A Case of Chronic Suppurative Otitis Media with Facial Nerve Palsy due to Aspergillus Infection / 대한이비인후과학회지

Chronic otitis media of fungal origin and its complications like facial palsy are highly unusual. Although human exposure to Aspergillus is common, infections are infrequent. Aspergillus infections of the ear are usually limited to superficial growth on cerumen or moist debris. The main risk factor for fungal infection of middle ear is being in an immunocompromised state, which may be caused by malignant neoplasms, immunosuppressive therapy, poorly controlled diabetes mellitus, blood dyscrasia, or protein-energy malnutrition. Aggressive surgical debridement is required in fungal infections with facial palsy, and the prognosis is better with early treatment. Facial palsy caused by fungal infection showed poor improvement in most of the reported cases. Early diagnosis, surgical resection and antifungal therapy with control of underlying immunologic conditions and maintenance of antifungal therapy are required for best results. Fungal otitis media with facial nerve palsy has not yet been reported in Korea. We report a case of fungal otitis media with facial palsy in an immune-compromised woman who improved with mastoid process resection and facial nerve decompression.

Herpes Zoster Oticus with Cranial Polyneuropathy without Involvement of Facial Nerve

Herpes zoster oticus is caused by herpetic viruses including varicella zoster and most commonly affects cranial nerves (CN) VII and VIII. With a review of literature, we report a case of herpes zoster oticus with selective involvement of CN VIII, IX and X. Interestingly, the motor fibers of CN VII were spared while ipsilateral recurrent laryngeal nerve involvement was evident. The patient was treated with antiviral medication and systemic steroids and symptoms were improved.

A Case of Phlebosclerotic Colitis in a Patient of Chronic Renal Failure / 대한소화기내시경학회지

Phlebosclerotic colitis is a rare disease sub-entity of ischemic colitis that is caused by venous obstruction due to colonic and mesenteric venous calcifications. Abdominal pain, diarrhea and hematochezia are frequent symptoms of phlebosclerotic colitis. The disease is characterized by typical dark purple mucosa on endoscopy, various venous calcifications on radiological findings, and microscopic findings showing fibrous degeneration, mucosal bleeding and venous wall thickening. A 64-year-old male who was undergoing maintenance hemodialysis was admitted to our hospital due to hematochezia. There was typical dark purple colored mucosa seen on colonoscopy, multiple abdominal calcifications were seen on radiology and diffuse necrosis and inflammatory changes were seen on the histophathology, but there was no mesenteric arterial occlusion seen on abdominal CT. On the basis of these findings, we diagnosed the patient as having phlebosclerotic colitis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of phlebosclerotic colitis in Korea.

Minimally Invasive Neuroendoscopic Surgery for Pituitary Apoplexy Diagnosed During Pregnancy / 대한산부인과학회지

Pituitary apoplexy is a life-threatening condition resulting from hemorrhage or necrosis of a pituitary tumor with subsequent compression of the optic nerves and cavernous sinuses. This is the first case report of a patient who experienced pituitary apoplexy due to hemorrhage of pituitary adenoma, which was initially recognized during pregnancy, and submitted to minimally invasive neuroendoscopic transnasal transsphenoidal approach in the third trimester of pregnancy.

Comparison of diagnostic methods used for detection of preterm premature rupture of membrane / 대한산부인과학회지

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to compare the detection rate among diagnostic methods used for preterm premature rupture of membrane (PPROM). METHODS: The study population was composed of pregnant women who visited delivery room at our hospital due to vaginal watery discharge from 1 March 2002 to 28 February 2003. The gestational age was between 15 and 36+6/7 weeks of gestation. The study group was composed of 74 pregnant women. The rupture of membrane was tested by nitrazine test, ROM-check test and actim PROM test. It was regarded true positive that normal spontaneous preterm delivery was occurred within 72 hrs. The detection rates of each test were analyzed. RESULTS: There were positive results in 65 cases of nitrazine test, 23 cases of ROM-check test and 53 cases of actim PROM test. Of these positive cases, cases that delivered within 72 hours were in 33 cases of nitrazine test, 13 cases of ROM-check test and 30 cases of actim PROM test. Among three diagnostic methods, the sensitivity is highest for nitrazine test (86.8%) and the specificity is highest for ROM- check test (72.2%). The positive predictive value shows no significant difference among three methods and the negative predictive value is highest for actim PROM test (61.9%). The combination of ROM-check test and actim PROM test shows most accurate detection rates for diagnosis of preterm premature rupture of the membranes (sensitivity 84.2%, specificity 42.3%, positive predictive value 56.1%, negative predictive value 64.7%). CONCLUSION: Our data shows that combination of diagnostic methods might improve detection rate for PPROM. Future studies remain to improve detection rate of PPROM.

Conservative Medical Treatment of Intramural Pregnancies Diagnosed by MRI: Two Case Reports / 대한주산의학회잡지

Intramural pregnancy is one of the rare forms of ectopic pregnancy and the optimal treatment is unknown. We describe two cases of intramural pregnancy treated with systemic methotrexate, which were diagnosed by pelvic MRI. Medical treatment with methotrexate may be a conservative treatment alternative for intramural pregnancies.

Search for Differentially Expressed Genes in Preterm Human Placentae and Their Membranes by Annealing Control Primer System / 대한주산의학회잡지

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the gene expression profiles using GeneFishingTM kit in human placentae and their membranes delivered at preterm caused by preterm labor. METHODS: Specimens were obtained from placenta, chorion, and amnion delivered at preterm and term, respectively. Total RNAs were isolated from each specimen. Thereafter, the profiles of expression genes between preterm and term specimens were compared using a new and accurate reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) that involves annealing control primers (ACPs) to identify the genes expressed differentially and screened by basic local alignment search tool (BLAST) search. RESULTS: Using 20 ACPs, 13 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified and sequenced. 7 of them were expressed up-regulation, while 6 were expressed down-regulation in preterm deliveries. A BLAST searches revealed that 11 were known genes and 2 were unknown genes. Among known genes, up-regulated genes were insulin-like growth factor II associated protein, vigilin, acyl-Coenzyme A dehydrogenase, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 1 (TIMP1), ribosomal protein S26 (RPS26), follistatin-like 1 (FSTL1) and down-regulated genes were two mitochondrial DNAs, ribosomal protein S28 (RPS28), transglutaminase 2 (TGM2), heparin sulfate proteoglycan (HSPG, perlecan). CONCLUSION: This study shows that the ACP system is a good method for the identification of preterm-related genes. Furthermore, this study suggests that further analysis of the differentially expressed genes in preterm we have identified should provide insights into the molecular basis of preterm delivery caused by preterm labor.

Fetal Well-being Evaluation by Determination of High Frequency Measurement Noise for Fetal Heart Rate Signal / 대한산부인과학회지

OBJECTIVE: This study was done to propose a new method of determining the cutoff frequency against measurement noise in fetal heart rate signal and to analyze the discriminating value for normal fetus (pH>7.15) and abnormal fetus (pH< or =7.15) by nonlinear method. METHODS: The patients were classified by umbilical artery pH (7.15) or base excess (-10 mEq/L). After removing the high frequency noise components at the cutoff frequency determined in this study, we calculated correlation dimension as a discriminating value for the normal and abnormal fetuses. RESULTS: After low pass filtering of fetal heart rate signal at the cutoff frequency, the numerical result of embedding dimension was 5.47+/-0.67 (normal), 4.43+/-0.60 (abnormal) (p<0.001), and correlation dimension was 2.51+/-0.43 (normal), 1.79+/-0.15 (abnormal). CONCLUSION: We could determine the cutoff frequency from the different fluctuation level between high frequency noise and principal signal according the cutoff frequency function. The detection of fetal distress was done objectively by this method. We could discriminate between normal fetus and abnormal fetus by correlation dimension as indicator for the nonlinear complexity.

Approximate Entropy of the Short-term Variability of Fetal Heart Rate as an Efficient Measurement of Fetal Distress / 대한산부인과학회잡지

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of approximate entropy on fetal heart rate variability of electronic fetal monitoring taken during antepartum and intrapartum periods as a new diagnostic method of fetal distress. METHODS: Among 76 pregnant women who underwent computerized electronic fetal monitoring and cord blood gas analysis, we divided them into 3 groups, i.e.; 36 into normal fetus group, 26 into presumed distress group and 14 into acidemic distress group. We performed a frequency analysis on time series of heart rate variability in three groups. In order to perform non-linear analysis on the raw data of the fetal heart rate, after resampling and low pass filtering, we investigated approximate entropy. RESULTS: The results of the approximate entropy showed that the value in normal fetus group was significantly high than the value in distress group. But in the distress group, ApEn value was not difference between acidemic and non-acidemic subgroup. ApEn of HRV was confirmed in nonlinear parameter without low pass filtering and resampling. CONCLUSION: The results show that the fetal heart rate variability has nonlinear characteristics and could distinguish normal fetal heart rate pattern and distress pattern numerically and objectively. And these ApEn value are useful for prediction and diagnosis of fetal distress in ante and prenatal periods.

A Case of Spontaneous Regression of Advanced Gastric Cancer / 대한소화기내시경학회지

Spontaneous regression may occur in malignancies such as hypernephroma, neuroblastoma, malignant melanoma, choriocarcinoma, and bladder tumor, but yet it is extremely rare in carcinoma of the stomach. So far, 19 cases have been reported in the English literature and the mechanisms underlying this intriguing phenomenon remain unknown. A 48-year-old man with histologically-verified advanced gastric carcinoma had received no treatment since its diagnosis. However, gastric carcinoma was no longer detectable by endoscopy and histology after 4 years. Thus, we report a case of spontaneous regression of carcinoma of the stomach with a brief review of relevant literatures.

A Case of Spontaneous Regression of Advanced Gastric Cancer / 대한소화기내시경학회지

Spontaneous regression may occur in malignancies such as hypernephroma, neuroblastoma, malignant melanoma, choriocarcinoma, and bladder tumor, but yet it is extremely rare in carcinoma of the stomach. So far, 19 cases have been reported in the English literature and the mechanisms underlying this intriguing phenomenon remain unknown. A 48-year-old man with histologically-verified advanced gastric carcinoma had received no treatment since its diagnosis. However, gastric carcinoma was no longer detectable by endoscopy and histology after 4 years. Thus, we report a case of spontaneous regression of carcinoma of the stomach with a brief review of relevant literatures.

The differences of fetal heart rate according to fetal sex / 대한산부인과학회잡지

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to analyze the previously unreported effect of fetal sex on the fetal heart rate and to measure its magnitude in relation to the effects of other independent clinical variables. METHODS: Three hundred and seventeen pregnant women who were able to provide electronic fetal heart rate monitoring were evaluated. On the basis of fetal sex after birth, 167 pregnant women who delivered male neonate were for males group and 146 examples who delivered female neonate were for female group. We analyzed fetal heart rate data using the Catholic Computer Assisted Obstetric Diagnosis System(CCAOD). RESULTS: Female fetuses had significantly faster basal heart rate(140.51+/-12.43bpm) than male fetuses(137.64+/-13.68 bpm).(P=0.007) Percent acceleration time(PAT) increased significantly for males(6.10+/-4.00bpm), comparing to females(4.90+/-3.34bpm).(P=0.001) Also percent deceleration time(PDT) was significantly higher in male fetuses(7.50+/-8.70bpm) than female fetuses(6.18+/-7.70bpm).(P=0.039) But there was no differences in standard deviation(SD)(8.84+/-10.11bpm, 8.11+/-3.56bpm), long term variation(LTV)(80.38+/-62.79msec, 73.65+/-54.60msec), and short term variation(STV)(14.06+/-9.79msec, 13.33+/-12.32msec) between male and female fetuses. CONCLUSION: The fetal heart rate of female fetuses differ from that of male fetuses. Computerized linear analysis and nonlinear analysis of antepartum fetal heart rate will need to take into account the multiple factors that influence the fetal heart rate to identify precisely which pattern predict clinical outcome.

Clinical study of Abruptio placenta / 대한산부인과학회잡지

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate for the clinical analysis on abruptio placenta, we examined its incidence, diagnostic methods, symptom and sign, perinatal mortality, and recurrence rate. METHODS: We reviewed the medical records of the 396 cases of abruptio placenta among 72.580 deliveries, from Jan. 1, 1990 to Dec. 31, 1997, at St. Mary, Kang Nam St. Mary, and Holy Family Hospital of Catholic University. RESULTS: The total incidence of abruptio placenta was 0.51%, the incidence plotted by age from 1993 to 1997 has shown that the age incidence was higher in 20-24years old(0.7%), and over 35years old (0.8%). 42.5% of the case occurred between 32 to 37weeks of gestational age, 39.6% was over 37weeks. 38% of the patient was diagnosed before delivery with ultrasonography and the most common complaint was vaginal bleeding. The complication of abruptio placenta is as follows, Couvelaire uterus occurred in 26cases(7.0 %), DIC in 10cases(2.7 %), ARF in 4cases (1.1 %), and uterine rupture in 1case(0.3 %). Perinatal mortality including 41cases of stillbirth was 19.9 %(73cases) but no maternal death was noted. A history of abruptio placenta increased risk of a similar incident in a subsequent pregnancy by 19 cases(4.6 %: 9.0 fold)complicated with 13 cases of pregnancy induced hypertension(76.5 %). CONCLUSION: The incidence of abruptio placenta plotted by age have shown higher in 20-25years old and over 35 years old, hypertensive women experienced abruptio placenta are more likely to have higher graded recurrent rate in subsequent pregnancy, and abruptio placenta is major obstetric bleeding disease causing serious maternal and fetal complication.

A Case of preofpregnancy combined with Primary Pulmonary Hypertension / 대한산부인과학회잡지

No abstract available.

A case of Benign Cystic Peritoneal Mesothelioma in a Male Fetus / 대한산부인과학회잡지

No abstract available.

Nonlinear Dynamic and Chaotic Analysis of Fetal Heart Rate in Fetal Distress / 대한산부인과학회잡지

OBJECTIVES: For estimating the antenatal fetal wellbeing to develop new analysis method of fetal heart rate(FHR) with electronic Fetal Heart Rate Monitoring(eFHRM) and computer. METHODS: Heart rate signal is received from distressed fetus using eFHRM. It is necessary to carry out low pass filtering as a preprocess for the nonlinear method. Nonlinear parameters are calculated and classified to investigate the relations between these parameters and values of umbilical cord blood gas. RESULTS: By dividing values of the umbilical cord blood gas into 5 fetuses of acidemic group and 17 fetuses of non-acidemic group after 22 neonates who presented fetal distress were born, the following results as compared with nonlinear chaotic analysis result were obtained. 1. Delay time through AMI for acidemic group was 16.80+/-3.11, and was higher than 15.41+/-2.27 for non-acidemic group, and is not significant in statistics. 2. Embedding Dimension calculated with FNN method was 5.60+/-2.07 for acidemic group, and 4.71+/-1.26 for non-acidemic group, and it was not significant statistically. 3. Correlation dimension for acidemic group was 1.41+/-0.20, and was higher than 1.10+/-0.38 for non-acidemic group, and is not significant in statistics. 4. Mean crossing value by isoangular return map was 28.80+/-11.34 for acidemic group, and 16.65+/-7.00 for non-acidemic group, and it was significant statistically(P=0.008). 5. In comparison of information entropy in 1-D ED, acidemic group was 6.32+/-0.38 and non-acidemic group was 6.20+/-0.28 and it was not significant statistically. Also, in comparison of value in 2-D ED, acidemic group was 10.20+/-0.34. It was higher than non-acidemic group of 9.51+/-0.43 significantly in statistics(P=0.004). But, in comparison of value in 2-D EP, acidemic group was 8.78+/-0.86 and non-acidemic group is of 9.22+/-0.74 and it wasn't significant statistically. And, 2-D ED(DI) value was 10.64+/-0.14 for acidemic group and 10.51+/-0.18 for non-acidemic group, and it wasn't significant statistically. CONCLUSIONS: By the above result, nonliner dynamics and chaotic analysis of heart rate data with computer can serve as a new diagnosis method which may estimate the fetal wellbeing with real time. Through further studies for establishment of diagnosis standard and computer programming, real time diagnosis method shall be applied to clinical practice.

Radiologic Placement of Subcutaneous Infusion Ports in Cancer Patients: Analysis of 45 Cases / 대한암학회지

PURPOSE: We undertook this study to evaluate the usefullness of radiologic placement of subcutaneous infusion ports (SIP). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between August 1999 and May 2000 we performed 45 implantations of SIP in radiologic suite. Both sonography and fluoroscopy were used for venipuncture and to guide port insertion. We prospectively evaluated 45 systems in 45 patients with solid tumors. RESULTS: Median follow-up time was 189 days (61~352 days). Technical success rate is 100% without any venipuncture-related complications. Early complication rate within 30 days of procedure was 4.4%, including wound dehiscence (n=1) and pocket hematoma and local infection (n=1). Catheter-related infection rate was 6.7% and catheter-related venous thrombosis rate was 4.4%. Mean duration of catheter use was 208 96 days (total, 9,381 days). Overall port survival rate was 38.5%, and four systems (8.9%) were prematurely removed because of catheter tunnel infection (n=1), pocket infection (n=1), and central venous thrombosis (n=2). CONCLUSION: Radiologic placement of SIP had higher success rate and equal or lower complication rate compared with reported conventional surgical technique using anatomical landmarks. Moreover, clinical convenience, resulting from ease of scheduling could make it replace surgical method.

A Case of Primary Malignant Lymphoma of the Ovary / 대한산부인과학회잡지

A 41-year-old woman was operated under the impression of ovarian malignancy. The ovarian mass was diagnosed as a non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, diffuse large cell type of B lineage pathologically. Because regional lymph nodes and bone marrow were not involved and Ga67 whole body bone scan was normal, we suspected that ovary was a primary site of lymphoma. After six cycles of CHOP (cyclophosphamide, adriamycin, vincristine, prednisone) chemotherapy, complete remission status was maintained for 16 months. We report a case of primary ovarian lymphoma with a review of literatures.

Experimental animal model for preeclampsia by the infusion of nitric oxide synthase inhibitor and reverse of preeclampsia by high dose L-arginine infusion / 대한산부인과학회잡지

OBJECTIVES: To learn which inhibition of nitric oxide synthase with L-nitro arginine methylester(L-NAME) induces a preeclampsia-like syndrome in pregnant rabbits and high dose of L-arginine reverse the adverse changes induced by nitric oxide synthesis inhibition in pregnant rabbits. MTERIAL AND METHOD: Twenty Newzealand rabbits with 22-days of gestation were injected subcutaneously with 400mg of L-NAME for 7days and 100mg/kg L-arginine was also given intravenously 10 of 20 L-NAME injected pregnant rabbits. They are compared with the control group in which same volume of saline was subcutaneously injected to 5 rabbits with same condition. They were anesthesized by ketamine 50 mg/kg and roupum 2 mg/kg intramuscularly. Cutdown of femoral artery was performed and 22 gauge angioneedle was inserted. On manometer,three way catheter was connected, zeroed with saline, and blood pressure was read. Blood samples were taken from the vein of ear and checked for count of blood cells and bood chemistry (BUN/Cr, GOT/GPT, LDH, Uric acid). Urine protein was measured with nelaton catheterized urine. We injected drugs for 7 days begining on 22 days after mating and performed cesarian section to deliver fetus. To observe their effects on organs, lung, liver, placenta and kidney were taken and fixed with formalin. The sliced kidney tissue in thickness of 1 mm, was fixed with glutaraldehyde for electron microscopy and stored at 4degree C. Special staining was done for closed observation of pattern changes. For statistical analysis, mean+/-SEM was used. The control and experimental groups were compared by unpaired t-test and the differences were significant if probability level is less than 0.05(<0.05). RESULT: Mean blood pressure(MAP) in the experimental group I was significantly high compared to the control group(P<0.05). There was no significant differences in MAP between experimental group II and control group. Urine Protein, BUN, Cr, GOT/GPT, LDH, platelet count in the experimental group I was significantly high(p<0.05) compared to the control group. There was no significant difference between experimental group II and control group. In light microscopic examination, lung, liver, kidney, placenta showed specific finding in experimental group I. Misconstructive of glomerulus in the experimental kidney was well preserved under EM examination. Interstitium of kidney was widened by increase of mesangial matrix. Mild effacement of foot process and cytoplasm of proximal tubule containing electron dense myelin figure like structure were observed. CONCLUSION: Long term injection of L-arginine analogue produced preeclampsia like syndrome and pathologic changes of organ system in pregnant rabbits. Concurrent high dose of L-arginine reversed such chages.

A Case of Adenoid Basal Carcinoma in Uterine Cervix / 대한산부인과학회잡지

We report a rare case of adenoid basal carcinoma in uterine cervix. The patient was a 43-year-old Korean female. She received neoadjuvant chemotherapy with Quick Cis-VP16 (cisplatin and VP16 with 7-10 days interval), three times and radical hysterectomy with pelvic lymph nodes dissection under the diagnosis of cervical cancer stage IIa. After the neoadjuvant chemotherapy, the mass size was 3 x 2.5 Cm and which was protruded in exocervical region. Microscopically, scattered small nests of uniformed small cells with dark nuclei and scant cytoplasm were observed. Peripheral palisading as well as the formation of gland-like or acinar structures were noted. There were also foci of squamous differentiation in same portion of the small nests. The epithelial surface in other portions showed squamous cell carcinoma, large cell non-keratinizing cell type. Distribution between adenoid basal carcinoma of the cervix and other disease, such as adenoid cystic carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma with basaloid features, is important for clinical management because the clinical behavior of adenoid basal carcinoma is less malignant than adenoid cystic carcinoma.