A Case of Gastric Hamartoma Presenting as a Submucosal Tumor / 대한소화기내시경학회지

Hamartomatous polyps in the stomach have been described as gastric lesions of familial polyposis coli or not associated with polyposis coli. However, submucosal tumor-like lesion of the gastric hamartoma is very rare. We have experienced an unusual hamartoma in the stomach in a 69-year-old man. He was hospitalized with epigastric discomfort. Endoscopy revealed a submucosal mass at the greater curvature of the high body of the stomach. The resected mass measured 3 X 2 X 1.5 cm and was characterized by cystic dilation of glandular structures. The glandular structures consisted of various types of lining cells, including surface foveolar cell types, pyloric cell types and parietal-like cells, and irregularly arranged smooth muscle bundles and collagen fibers were noted. We report this unusual gastric hamartoma presenting as a submucosal tumor with a review of literatures.

A case of acute renal failure complicated during interferon treatment of chronic hepatitis B / 대한내과학회지

Hepatitis B virus infection is known to be associated with various types of glomerulonephritis (GN), including membranous GN, membranoproliferative GN, and mesangial proliferative GN. Although there has been considerable experiences with interferon in clinical trials during the past decade, acute renal failure as a complication of interferon treatment has rarely been reported. We report a case in which acute renal failure with proteinuria was associated with interferon-alpha treatment. A 33-year-old man with chronic hepatitis B presented with diarrhea and RUQ pain. Two weeks after INF-alpha treatment, Oliguria and proteinuria suddenly occurred, although the hepatic function was improved. With discontinuation of interferon treatment and ultrafiltration, his renal function was improved.

A Case of Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis Localized at Intrahepatic Bile Duct / 대한소화기내시경학회지

Primary sclerosing cholangitis is a cholestatic liver disease characterized by fibroobliterative inflammation of the entire biliary tree. It is a slowly progressive disease with an undulating course, resulting in biliary cirrhosis. The gold standard for establishing the diagnosis is cholangiographic demonstration of typical diffuse biliary stricturing and beading. We exprienced a case of primary sclerosing cholangitis by Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) demonstration. ERCP findings revealed multiple luminal narrowing, stricture and beaded dilatation of the intrahepatic duct. We report a case of primary sclerosing cholangitis localizing at intrahepatic bile duct, which is confused with cholangiocarcinoma.

A Case of Intramural Pancreatic Pseudocyst of the Duodenum / 대한소화기내시경학회지

Pancreatic pseudocysts are a well-recognized complication of pancreatitis. Most occur in or adjacent to the pancreas. Occasionally, duodenal involvement may occur due to the nonperitonealized posterior surface of the duodenum is in direct contact with the head of the pancreas. But there is little awareness of the intramural and major extrinsic involvement of the duodenum with also occurs. A case was recently experienced involving an intramural pancreatic pseudocyst of the duodenum.

Usefulness of Intraductal Secretin Test in Assessing Exocrine Pancreatic Function in Patients with Chronic Pancreatitis / 대한소화기내시경학회지

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The duodenal intubation test (duodenal secretin test; DST) is now considered the 'gold standard' test of exocrine pancreatic function in detecting exocrine pancreatic dysfunction in patients with chronic pancreatitis. However, the DST has not been widely used, because it is time-consuming, invasive, and labor-intensive. On the other hand, intraductal secretin test (IDST) with endoscopic retrograde cannulation of the main pancreatic duct has been showed similar diagnostic efficiency compared with DST. We assessed the clinical usefulness of IDST and investigated parameters for assessing impaired pancreatic function of IDST. METHODS: Pure pancreatic juices were collected from 12 patients with chronic pancreatitis by endoscopic cannulation after a bolus intravenous injection of secretin 100 U, for 15min in three 5-min intervals. Five parameters of IDST were measured, and the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of IDST evaluated compared with ERP. RESULTS: When we regarded mean-1.5 SD as the lower limits of IDST, the diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of five parameters to detect chronic pancreatitis were 91.7-100%, 75-87.5%, and 85-90%, respectively. Among five parameters, pancreatic juice secretory volume, bicarbonate concentration, and amylase output showed the highest diagnostic accuracy, followed by lipase output and bicarbonate output. A 10-min collection showed as much information as a 15-min collection. CONCLUSIONS: 10-min intraductal secretin test is useful as the conventional exocrine pancreatic function test in detecting exocrine pancreatic dysfunction in patients with chronic pancreatitis and the most discriminatory parameters are pancreatic juice secretory volume, bicarbonate concentration, and amylase output.

Post EST Papillary Restenosis: A Case Report / 대한소화기내시경학회지

The occurrence of papillary restenosis following endoscopic sphincterotomy is uncommon and usually reported as a late complication. Its frequency varies from 0.8% to 3% and at present, only a few reports describe the late complication rate for a mean follow-up exceeding 10 years. The diameter of the sphincterotomy opening diminishes by about 30% in the first year without further narrowing, suggesting that restenosis occurs mainly during the first post-sphincterotomy year. Papillary restenosis may be promoted by insufficient cutting and may depend on the indication for EST such as common bile duct stones, papillary stenosis, duodenal diverticular, sphincter of Oddi dysfunction. A bleeding sphincterotomy requiring a sclerosing injection is considered a potential risk factor for papillary stenosis. However, stenosis may develop in the absence of specific predisposing factors. A case of papillary restenosis following endoscopic sphincterotomy for gollstone pancreatitis in a 33-year-old female patient is herein reported.

Negative conversion of antimitochondrial antibody in primary biliary cirrhosis: a case of autoimmune cholangitis

Autoimmune cholangitis is a clinical constellation of chronic cholestasis, histological changes of chronic nonsuppurative cholangitis and the presence of autoantibodies other than antimitochondrial antibody (AMA). It is uncertain whether this entity is definitely different from AMA positive primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), though it shows some differences. We report a case of autoimmune cholangitis in a 59-year-old woman, who had been previously diagnosed as AMA-positive PBC associated with rheumatoid arthritis, has been converted to an AMA-negative and anticentromere antibody-positive PBC during follow-up. The response to ursodeoxycholic acid treatment is poor except within the first few months, but prednisolone was dropping the biochemical laboratory data.

An Isolated AST Elevation due to Macroenzyme Formation / 대한간학회지

Serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST) is a common enzyme for the evaluation of the hepatic, muscular and cardiac diseases and is produced also at kidney, brain, pancreas, lung, leukocytes, erythrocytes, etc. The elevation of its activity is usually caused by the necrosis of hepatocytes when there are not muscular injuries or myopathies. Recently, it is found that AST can exist as a macroenzyme by forming a complex with an immunoglobulin and this complex is erroneously considered to indicate the presence of liver disease as a result of elevation of AST activity on routine blood chemistry analysis. We experienced the patient with isolated AST elevation due to the formation of AST-mmunoglobulin complex confirmed by AST isoenzyme electrophoresis (EP).

A Case of Recovery from Suspended Animation caused by Puffer fish Poisoning: a case report

Tetrodotoxin is a neurotoxin produced by about 90 species of puffer fish and causes paralysis of central nervous system and peripheral nerves by blocking the movement of all monovalent cations. Ingestion of tetrodotoxin produces clinical manifestations such as paresthesias(within 10-45 min), vomiting, lightheadedness, salivation, muscle twitching, dysphagia, difficulty in speaking, convulsion and death that expressed by cardiopulmonary arrest with loss of brain stem reflex sometimes. Tetrodotoxin prevents or delays ischemia induced neuronal death by way of following 3 mechanisms. Firstly, it reduces the energy demand of the brain tissues. Secondly, it delays or even prevents anoxic depolarization. Finally, it diminishes ischemia induced cell swelling and cerebral edema. We report a case of puffer fish poisoning which presented with cardiopulmonary arrest and loss of brain stem reflex, but completely recovered by aggressive cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Anal Endoscophic Features of Normal Anus in Children

A recent application of anal endosonography has been popularized in adult patients to access staging of the rectal cancer and other lesions of the anorectum; however, this study has not been familiar to pediatric surgeons. We performed anal endosonography in 30 children without anorectal disease in order to obtain standard morphology of the anorectum. Internal anal sphincter (IAS) was clearly identified as a homogeneous hypoechoic circular band, extending caudally to a level just proximal to anal verge. The external anal sphincter (EAS) showed mixed echogenicity and different architecture along anal canal ; the EAS had U-shape in the upper canal and it showed circular pattern in the lower canal. In the upper canal of girls, the perineal body and the vagina were shown just anterior of the anal canal, which made the U shape of the EAS, whereas in male the sphincter tapered anteriorly into two arcs that met in the midline. The perineal body was prominent in female. Posteriorly, the anococcygeal ligament showed triangular shadow in both sex. The thickness of the IAS was measured in 3 directions, left, right and posterior, at 3 levels, upper, middle and lower of the anal canal. The average thiskness was 0.86-2.40mm between 6 and 18 months of age (Group 1), 0.88-3.20mm between 19 and 36 (Group 2), 1.07-2.20mm between 37 and 54 (Group 3) and 1.18-2.42mm more than 54-month-old (Group 4). The thickness was correlated wtih the age of the children only in the right upper(p=0.008) and the left middle portion (p=0.015). We could obtain standard morphologic features of normal anal canal in children with anal endosonography and we also believe that this technique is a safe and an effective procedure to evaluate anorectal lesions in children.

Comparison of MMPI Characteristics in Ulcerative Colitis, Hemodialysis patients & Normal Control Group / 대한내과학회지

OBJECTIVES: For many years, inflammatory bowel disease has been thought to have a strong psychosomatic component, but recent prospective studies show no evidence of correlation between various psychologic factors and the disease activity. However, chronic renal disease still places unique stresses on the hemodialysis patients, with consequent emotional reactions. The aims of this study are to investigate the psychologic factors of ulcerative colitis and hemodialysis patients using MMPI scales, which are objective psychological test, thus give aid to psychological understanding of these patients. MOTHODS: We investigated 23 ulcerative colitis patients in remission followed at outpatient department of Hanyang University Hospital and 25 patients receiving hemodialysis between June, 1994 and August, 1995. Twenty students were selected for normal control group. We utilized T-score of each MMPI scale for analyzing characteristics of each group and regard T-score over 70 or below 40 as abnormal. RESULTS: The average T-scores of each MMPI scale in ulcerative colitis, hemodialysis patients & normal control group were within normal range between 40 and 70, except for T-score of Es scale in hemodialysis patient group(34.5). The results of comparison between each MMPI scale of two patients & normal control group were as follows. 1) L scale was significantly elevated in ulcerative colitis & hemodialysis patients group compared with that of normal control group. F scale was significantly elevated in hemodialysis patients compared with that of ulcerative colitis patients & normal control group (p<0.01). 2) Hs(p<0.01), D, Pt(p<0.05) and Sc(p<0.01) scales were significantly elevated in hemodialysis patients compared with those of ulcerative colitis patients & normal control group. 3) Es scale was significantly lower in hemodialysis patients compared with that of ulcerative colitis patients & normal control group(p<0.01). CONCLUSION: The result presented in this study reflects emotional disturbances, functional impairment, stressful life condition, excessive hypochondriacal thinking, depressed mood and egocentric tendency of hemodialysis patients compared with ulcerative colitis patients & normal control group. This result also reflects the projective tendency, hostility, difficulty in rapport formation, psychologic disturbance, obssesive and rigid personality, anxiety and retiredness of hemodialysis patients compared with ulcerative colitis patients & normal control group. On the other hand, we can't find any statistically significant differences between ulcerative colitis and normal control group.

A Case of a Congenital Web of the Common Bile Duct Treated with Balloon Dilatation / 대한소화기내시경학회지

The web of the common bile duct is an extremely rare anomaly and the cause of the obstructive jaundice. We experienced a case of the congenital web of common bile duct in a 42 years old male who complained of jaundice for 10 days prior to admission without choledocholithiasis and cholangitis. An endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography revealed a common bile duct web (transverse, diaphragmatic type) and the diagnosis was confirmed by an endoscopic forcep biopsy. We reported a case of the congenita1 web of the common bile duct which was treated with a stent insertion and balloon dilatation.

A case of Behcet's syndrome with supeior vena cava syndrome

Behcet's syndrome is a multi-systemic and chronic disorder that affects many organs. It has been suggested that the diagnosis was based on the presence of the 'major' and 'minor' clinical criteria. When thromobophlebitis, arthritis, central nervous system or gastrointestinal lesions are also present. Behcet's syndrome will be thought to be present in the appropriate geographic area. We report a case of superior vena cava syndrome caused by Behcet's disease in a 40-year-old man with recurrent oral aphthous ulcers and skin rashes on the anterior chest wall. There were multiple thrombosis of the superior vena cava, innominate and subclavian veins. This patient also had a solitary cecal ulcer with an ileocecal fistula and downhill varix. The chest CT, veno-cavography, pulmonary angiography and colon study were taken and follow-up was performed.

A Case of Bleeding Duodenal Varices in a Patient with Idiopathic Portal Hypertension / 대한소화기내시경학회지

Bleeding duodenal varices are a rare complication in patients with portal hypertension. Cirrhosis followed by portal vein obstruction and splenic vein obstruction are the most common causes. Although the prognosis of bleeding duodenal varices is usually poor, an awareness of its characteristic presentation may enable diagnostic and therapeutic proce- dures to be performed rapidly with an increased likelihood of a reaching successful out- come. In this study, we report a case of bleeding duodenal varices in a 23-year-old woman with idiopathic portal hypertension who was also suffering with recurrent melena. Panendoscopy identified prominant tortuous varices with central erosion in the 3rd portion of the duodenum and no esophageal and gastric varices. The varices were successfully treated by distal splenorenal shunt.

Three Cases of Hepatitis Related to the Use of Famotidine and Ranitidine / 대한간학회지

H2-receptor blockers are widely used for therapy of peptic ulcer disease and gastroesophageal reflux disease. H2-receptor blockers infrequently cause adverse hepatic effects, and when they occur they are usually asymptomatic. There are several previous reports of liver injury related to ranitidine. Until now, only two cases of acute hepatitis associated with the use of famotidine were reported in the world. We report three cases of clinical hepatitis that followed administration of famotidine (2 cases) and ranitidine (1 case). First, a 54-year-old woman received famotidine, 40mg, daily for treatment of erosive gastritis. After 6 weeks of treatment with famotidine, jaundice and itching sense developed. Second, a 45-year-old man was hospitalized for jaundice. He had a long history of duodenal ulcer and had been intermittently treated with famotidine. He had 6 weeks of treatment with famotidine prior to admission. Third, a 19-year-old woman was hospitalized for nausea, vomiting and urticaria. She had a history of acute hepatitis B virus infection and was discharged 4 weeks prior to readmission. She had been received ranitidine, 300 mg, daily for treatment of gastritis. After 17 days of drug ingestion, whenever she had taken her medication, she developed these symptoms of nausea, vomiting and urticaria. Other causes of hepatitis were ruled out and all patients recovered after discontinuation of drug ingestion.

Three Cases of Hepatitis Related to the Use of Famotidine and Ranitidine / 대한간학회지

H2-receptor blockers are widely used for therapy of peptic ulcer disease and gastroesophageal reflux disease. H2-receptor blockers infrequently cause adverse hepatic effects, and when they occur they are usually asymptomatic. There are several previous reports of liver injury related to ranitidine. Until now, only two cases of acute hepatitis associated with the use of famotidine were reported in the world. We report three cases of clinical hepatitis that followed administration of famotidine (2 cases) and ranitidine (1 case). First, a 54-year-old woman received famotidine, 40mg, daily for treatment of erosive gastritis. After 6 weeks of treatment with famotidine, jaundice and itching sense developed. Second, a 45-year-old man was hospitalized for jaundice. He had a long history of duodenal ulcer and had been intermittently treated with famotidine. He had 6 weeks of treatment with famotidine prior to admission. Third, a 19-year-old woman was hospitalized for nausea, vomiting and urticaria. She had a history of acute hepatitis B virus infection and was discharged 4 weeks prior to readmission. She had been received ranitidine, 300 mg, daily for treatment of gastritis. After 17 days of drug ingestion, whenever she had taken her medication, she developed these symptoms of nausea, vomiting and urticaria. Other causes of hepatitis were ruled out and all patients recovered after discontinuation of drug ingestion.

Treatment Using an Endoscopic Sphincterotomy for Two Patients with Choledochocele / 대한소화기내시경학회지

A choledochocele is a cyst like herniation of the intramural segment of the distal common bile duct protruding into the duodenal lumen. It is controversial whether this disease entity represents a type III variation of a choledochal cyst or an acquired lesion due to a calculus, papillitis or sphincter of Oddi dysfunction. The choledochocele is the rarest form of choledochal cysts and represents only 1.4-5.0% of all choledochal cysts. The diagnosis of choledochocele can be confirmed with certainly using a cholangiography. During a side viewing duodenoscopy followed by retrograde cholangiopancreatography, the mucosa appears normal but the papilla may be larger than usual. When probing the choledochocele with a cannulating catheter, its surface may be appear to be soft and compressible, similar to the pillow sign. After contrast dye is instilled into the bile duct, a round, cyst-like contrast filled structure can be identified adjacent to the terminatian of the common bile duct and an air halo sign may be visible around it. The established treatment of choledochocele is surgical resection of the cyst with anastomosis of the common bile duct to the small intestine, but transduodenal sphincteroplasty or endoscopic sphincterotomy has been advocated as an alternative to excision because of the very low risk of malignant degeneration, operative complications and morbidity. The choice of therapy for the patients with symptomatic choledochchocele is to establish effective drainage of the common bile duct and pancreatic duct. The objective can be achieved using an endoscopic sphincterotomy or transduodenal sphinateroplasy. It has been determined in recent years that endoscopic sphincterotomy is v effective and often followed by a positive prognosis. We report two patients with reicurrent pancreatitis and the common bile duct dilatation secondary to a choledochoce]e, who were treated effectively by endoscopic sphincterotomy.

Two Cases of Pancreatic Pseudocyst Treated with Endoscopic Cystogastrostomy throughout Stent and ENPD Catheter / 대한소화기내시경학회지

Pancreatic pseudocysts were complicated in 10-27% of acute pancreatitis and 11-41% of chronic pancreatitis. Asymptomatic pseudocysts require no treatment, but symptomatic pseudocysts should be decompressed. Surgical management had been the traditional approach to treating pancreatic pseudocysts. Endoscopic transpapillary or transduodenal cystoenterostomy were recently suggested as an alternative to surgery in order to avoid surgical complications. The success rates of endoscopic treatment was 65-94%, procedure related morbidity was 6-21% and mortality was 0-5%. We reported two cases of patients with pancreatic pseudocysts which were treated with endoscopic cystogastrostomy and proceeded to drain through stent and ENPD catheter.

Metronidazole Resistance and the Eradication of Helicobacter pylori / 대한소화기내시경학회지

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The success of Helicobacter pylori eradication is limited by antibiotic resistances, and the primary resistance to metranidazole seems to be high. In this study, the frequency af metronidazole resistance and the eradication rate in metronidazole-resistant H. pylori strain was evaluated. METHODS: Sixty-eight patients were tested for metronidazole resistance using microdilution broth, the E test and disk diffusion method. Twenty-two patients were treated for 14 days with amoxicilline 2000 mg, metronidazole 750 mg, and tripotassium dicitrate bismuth 1200 mg. RESULTS: Metronida-zole resistance was 46% (31/68). The eradication rates for H. pylori was 91.7% in patients with metronidazole-sensistive strains and 70% in patients with metronidazole-resistant strains. CONCLUSIONS: Metronidazole resistance was high (46%) in Korea, however, triple therapy was an efficient method of eradicating H. pylori in both metronidazole sensitive and resistant strains.

A Case of Esophageal and Gastroduodenal Candidiasis / 대한소화기내시경학회지

Candidiasis of the gastrointestinal tract typically occurs in a setting of decreased re- sistance to opportunistic infection, but also occurs in apparently normal individuals. Mucosal lesions in the gastrointestinal tract predominantly involve the esophagus, and gastroduodenal and enteric candidial lesions, which are less frequent, have only infrequently been detected antemortem. A case was experienced involving esophageal and gastroduodenal candidiasis in the patient of hepatocellular carcinoma and spinal metastasis treated with emergent radiotherapy and corticosteroid. He complained of anorexia and dyaphagia in the 4th day of radiotherapy. Endoscopy revealed multiple, large raised, white plaques and patches covering the mid- and distal esophageal mucosa, and several superficial aphthous ulcerations covered with white plaques in the entire stomach, and two deep excavating ulcers at the angle and antrum. The duodenal mucosa was covered with multiple small, white plaques, and a huge penetraing ulcer was seen in the duodenal bulb. Endoscopic biopsy showed budding yeast and pseudohyphae infiltrating through the ulcerated mucosa. Cultures of the same material canfirmed the organism to be Candida albicans. The patient was treated with fluconazole for 2 weeks. The case of esophgeal and gastroduodenal candidiasis is reported with reviiew of relevant literature.