A Recurred Case of a Mature Ovarian Teratoma Presenting as a Rectal Mass / 대한소화기학회지

Mature teratoma is the most common germ cell tumor of the ovary. The tumor is essentially a benign neoplasm and surgical resection of the tumor is the treatment of choice. Recurrence with colorectal involvement after surgical removal of the primary lesion is exceedingly rare and has not been reported in Korea. We present a 43-year-old patient with a rectal mass who had already undergone left oophorectomy due to mature cystic teratoma and right oophorectomy due to hemorrhagic corpus luteum. The rectal mass was composed of a mature teratoma tissue. We postulate that leakage of the tumor elements from the cyst wall led to peritoneal tumor implantation and invasion to the rectal wall.

Electrogastrography in Uremic Patients on Maintenance Hemodialysis with Dyspepsia / 대한소화관운동학회지

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The changes in an Electrogastrography (EGG) in uremic patients on maintenance hemodialysis with dyspeptic complaints are not well known. The aim of this study was to investigate the EGG findings in uremic patients with dyspeptic complaints and note the difference of EGG findings between uremic patients with dyspeptic complaints and patients with functional dyspepsia. METHODS: Fifty two subjects were enrolled. They were assigned to: group I, healthy volunteers without dyspeptic complaints (n=15); group II, patients with dysmotility-like dyspepsia (n=22); or group III, uremic patients undergoing hemodialysis with dysmotility-like dyspepsia (n=15). The data was compared among groups. RESULTS: There was no difference in the percentage of normal slow wave frequency, and fed to fasting power ratio among the groups. However, frequencies of abnormal EGG findings were 4 (27%) in group I, 10 (40%) group II and 9 (60%) in group III. Therefore the frequency was marginally different among group I, group II or group III (p=0.06). CONCLUSIONS: Impaired gastric myoelectric activity was more frequently observed in uremic patients or patients with dysmotility-like dyspepsia than normal controls. However frequencies of abnormal EGG findings between uremic patients and patients with dysmotility-like dyspepsia were not significantly different.

A Case of Spontaneous Hemoperitoneum due to Gastroepiploic Vein Rupture in Alcoholic Cirrhosis / 대한간학회지

Portal hypertension often leads to the development of several collateral vessels that shunt blood flow from the portal to the systemic circulation. The rupture of intra-abdominal varix is an unusual complication of portal hypertension that can lead to life-threatening hemoperitoneum. If the patient is hemodynamically unstable due to massive intra-abdominal bleeding, exploratory laparotomy should be performed on the patient. There are several reported cases of intra-abdominal variceal bleeding such as paraumbilical varix, the varix from the small intestine and proximal colon etc. Spontaneous hemoperitoneum caused by the rupture of gastroepiploic vein varix, however, has not been reported in Korea, to the best of our knowledge. We will discuss a patient with portal hypertension due to liver cirrhosis who presented with acute intra-abdominal bleeding. During the laparotomy, he was found to have a rupture of the gastroepiploic vein. The vessel was ligated, and the patient recovered uneventfully by operative variceal ligation.

A Gastric Intramural Pancreatic Pseudocyst: An Unuaual Presentation as a Gastric Intramural Tumor / 대한소화기내시경학회지

We report a case of pancreatic pseudocyst presenting as an intramural gastric tumor on upper gastrointestinal examination, endoscopic ultrasound and computed tomography of the abdomen. Pancreatic pseudocysts in the stomach wall is rare and the most of them presented as a cystic mass, but this case was presented as a gastric mural solid tumor. Exploration revealed an about 4 4 2 cm sized round mass at the midbody of great curvature of stomach, it was in the muscle layer, and removed by surgical operation. The correct diagnosis of this case was established postoperately on the pathologic examination revealed pancreatic pseudocyst.

The Therapeutic Effects of Lamivudine and Detection of Mutations in YMDD Motif of Hepatitis B Virus Genome in Chronic Hepatitis B Patients / 대한간학회지

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Recipients, at 13 months after administration of daily doses of 100 mg of lamivudine, were likely to have the highest rate of HBeAg seroconversion (32%); the greatest suppression of HBV DNA (98% reduction at week 52); and the highest rate of sustained normalization of ALT levels (72%). In a 1-year trial of lamivudine for chronic hepatitis B patients, the incidence of YMDD mutations was known to be about 14%. We intend to determine the incidence of YMDD mutations and the correlation between the mutation of the virus and the clinical characteristics of the patient. METHODS: Between Feb. 1999 and Sept. 2000 we conducted a prospective study. Patients received 100 mg of lamivudine per day orally for at least 9 months. The average period of follow-up was 15 months. The patients enrolled in this study were composed of 20 chronic hepatitis B patients and 3 liver cirrhosis patients. The male to female ratio was 18:5. The average age of the patients was 40 years. The HBV DNA was extracted from the initial serum and the serum on abnormal ALT level, and then PCR was done. Finally we sequenced a 459-bp fragment and analyzed which samples had YMDD mutation or did not. RESULTS: (1) The genetic mutations in the YMDD locus occurred in 3 of the 23 patients (13%), two patients exhibited YIDD mutation, and one patient exhibited YVDD at 24, 52, 48 weeks of therapy respectively. (2) During the 3 months of treatment, serum ALT levels returned to normal in 13 of the 23 patients (56%). The HBV DNA disappearance rate at 3 and 8 months was 63% and 84% respectively. The 8 of 19 patients who lost the HBV DNA during lamivudine treatment experienced the breakthrough at about 13 months (the range: 8~27 months). 4 patients experienced HBeAg seroconversion during the treatment period (17%). CONCLUSIONS: The mutations in the YMDD motif, especially the YIDD type, may aggravate the clinical outcome of the patients. We concluded that the treatment duration should be prolonged with these patients.

A Case of Adult Intussusception of the Colon Caused by Leiomyoma / 대한소화기내시경학회지

Adult intussusception represents 1% of patients with bowel obstruction and 5% of all intussusception. It presents with a variety of acute, intermittent and chronic symptoms, thus making its preoperative diagnosis is difficult. Overall, colonic intussusception in adults is most often related to a primary carcinoma and benign smooth muscle tumors of the gastrointestinal tract are uncommon. We experienced a case of adult intussusception of the colon caused by leiomyoma. The 18-year old man was suffered from intermittent, colicky left lower quadrant pain and bloody diarrhea. Physical examination revealed a mass in the left lower abdomen. An abdominal CT scan revealed a "target mass" in the distal colon. The patient was treated with segmental resection of the descending colon and anastomosis. Pathology revealed a benign leiomyoma of the distal colon as the leading point of the colo-colic intussusception. His postoperative course was uneventful and did well.

Assessment of Mitral Valve Area in Patients with Mitral Stenosis and Atrial Fibrillation

BACKGROUND: In mitral stenosis with atial fibrillation, it is known that there is a significant linear correlation between end-diastolic mitral pressure gradient(EDMG) in cardiac catheterization and the corresponding RR interval. And using this, the equations to calculate the mitral valve area(MVA) in several heart retes has been inducing. However, as cardiac catheterization has a limitation not to be practiced repeatedly in all patients due to invasive procedure. In this study, using transthoracic doppler echocardiography, we tried to investigate the correlation of EDMG, RR interval and MVA and we tried to get the nomogram to predict MVA in different heart rates using it. METHODS: We made 9 patients an abject of this study whose measured MVA is from 0.5cm2 to 1.55cm2 by pressure half time(PHT) method among patients who have no any valvular heart disease except mitral stenosis with atrial fibrillation and whose condition is stable. We investigated the linear correlation between EDMG and RR interval, RR interval=a×EDMG+b(a ; slope, b ; intercept), using doppler echocardiography. We got the equation and nomogram to make an estimate of MVA with multiple regression analysis using the relation of measured MVA, slope and intercept. RESULTS: There was a linear correlation between EDMG and RR interval in all the patients. There was a mutual correlation of slope=53.0×(measured MVA)−101.2 between measured MVA and slope. There was a negative correlation of intercept=1,497−470×(measured MVA) between measured MVA and intercept. Using these, we could get multiple regression analysis equation, estimated MVA=0.0113×slope−0.0007×intercept+2.2497 and nomogram to estimate MVA. CONCLUSION: We could get the nomogram to estimate MVA easily using doppler echocardiography in mitral stenosis with atrial fibrillation.

Influences of White-Coat Hypertension and White-Coat Effect on the Left Ventricular Mass and Diastolic Function

BACKGROUND: Overstimation of blood pressure(BP) by clinic measurements occur in about 20 to 30% of subjects(white-coat hypertension) who may, consequently, be misdiagnosed as hypertensives and received unnecessary medications. The clinical significance of white-coat hypertension and its effects on the cardiovascular wystem have not been studied systematically.This study was designed to evaluate the influences of white-coat hypertension and white-coat effect, defined as difference between clinic and ambulatory BP, on the LV mass and diastolic function. METHODS: LV mass index was calculated and LV systolic and diastolic function were assessed by the analysis of mitral and pulmonary venous flow velocity in 45 untreated essential hypertensives and 20 normotensives(NT). Ambulatory BP monitoring classified hypertensives as white-coat hypertensives(WCHT,n=20) and sustained hypertensives(SHT, n=25). RESULTS: 1) Left ventricular systolic indices were not different among the three groups. 2) Left ventricular mass inedx of WCHT(114.5+/-36.3g/m2) was similar to that of SHT(115.6+/-34.9g/m2) and was significantly greater than that of NT(86.5+/-37.7g/m2)(p<0.05). 3) Some of left ventricular diastolic parameters(isovolumic relaxation time, E/A ratio, A velocity, pulmonary systolic fraction, ratio of systolic to diastolic forward flow velocity) of WCHT and SHT were significantly different from those of NT(p<0.05), but there were no differences between two hypertensive groups. 4) Even though both systolic and diastolic white-coat effect in WCHT were significantly greater than those of SHT(o<0.05),white-coat effect did not influence on the left ventricular mass or function in both groups. CONCLUSION: An increased left ventricular mass and diastolic dysfunction in WCHT suggests that white-coat hypertension could not be considered as an entirely innocuous clinical condition.

A Case of Grannlomatous Polyp in Larynx Following Endotracheal Intubation / 대한마취과학회지

The authors have experienced a case of granulomatous polyp in larynx following endotracheal intubation. The patient had a polyp on the posterior one third of left vocal cord somedays after endotracheal intubation. The microscopic study of the polyp disclosed a granulomatous polyp in larynx.