Metachronous Sporadic Sextuple Primary Malignancies Including Bilateral Breast Cancers / 한국유방암학회지

Multiple primary malignancies are defined as the presence of more than one malignant neoplasm with a distinct histology occurring at different sites in the same individual. They are classified as synchronous or metachronous according to the diagnostic time interval of different malignancies. Diagnosis of multiple primary malignancies should avoid misclassification from multifocal/multicentric tumors or recurrent/metastatic lesions.In multiple primary malignancies, with increase in the number of primary tumors, the frequency rapidly decreases. Here, we report an exceptionally rare case of a woman who was diagnosed with metachronous sporadic sextuple primary malignancies including bilateral breast cancers (gastric cancer, ovarian Sertoli-Leydig cell tumor, left breast cancer, thyroid cancer, right breast cancer, and rectal neuroendocrine tumor). The sextuple primary malignancies in this case involved 5 different organs: the stomach, ovary, thyroid, rectum, and bilateral breasts. Further studies are needed to elucidate the current epidemiologic status of patients with multiple primary malignancies.

Metachronous Sporadic Sextuple Primary Malignancies Including Bilateral Breast Cancers / 한국유방암학회지

Multiple primary malignancies are defined as the presence of more than one malignant neoplasm with a distinct histology occurring at different sites in the same individual. They are classified as synchronous or metachronous according to the diagnostic time interval of different malignancies. Diagnosis of multiple primary malignancies should avoid misclassification from multifocal/multicentric tumors or recurrent/metastatic lesions.In multiple primary malignancies, with increase in the number of primary tumors, the frequency rapidly decreases. Here, we report an exceptionally rare case of a woman who was diagnosed with metachronous sporadic sextuple primary malignancies including bilateral breast cancers (gastric cancer, ovarian Sertoli-Leydig cell tumor, left breast cancer, thyroid cancer, right breast cancer, and rectal neuroendocrine tumor). The sextuple primary malignancies in this case involved 5 different organs: the stomach, ovary, thyroid, rectum, and bilateral breasts. Further studies are needed to elucidate the current epidemiologic status of patients with multiple primary malignancies.

Concurrence of Sjogren's Syndrome in a Patient with Chlamydia-induced Reactive Arthritis: An Unusual Finding

A 40-year-old Korean man presented with painful swelling and tenderness of both ankle joints as well as the plantar surfaces of both feet, along with inflammatory back pain, and a purulent discharge from the urethral orifice. The patient also complained of sicca-like symptoms including dry eyes and dry mouth. An immunological analysis revealed a high titer of rheumatoid factor, positive results for antinuclear antibody and anti-Ro antibody, and a positive result for HLA-B27. An antibody titer for Chlamydia was also significantly increased. Positive results of the Schirmer's test and for keratoconjunctivitis sicca were confirmed by an ophthalmologist. These clinical manifestations were compatible with Chlamydia-induced reactive arthritis (ReA) accompanied by Sjogren's syndrome (SS). This is the first report of the combination of these two distinct disease entities in the Korean population.

Optimal Cut-off Value of PIVKA-II for Diagnosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Using ROC Curve / 대한간학회지

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Protein induced by vitamin K absence or antagonist-II (PIVKA-II), also known as des-carboxyprothrombin (DCP), can be used as an alternative tool to alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) for surveillance of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The aims of the present study were to compare PIVKA-II levels between the patients with HCC and patients with non-HCC chronic liver disease, to evaluate the correlation of PIVKA-II and AFP in HCC patients, and finally to estimate the optimal cut-off value for PIVKA-II for the diagnosis of HCC with using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. METHODS: A total of 227 consecutive patients with HCC (n=42) or chronic liver disease (n=185) were enrolled in this study. HCC was diagnosed histologically or by imaging such as computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging or angiography. The serum PIVKA-II and AFP levels were measured by electrochemiluminoimmunoassay with using the Haicatch PIVKA-II kit and by immunoradiometric assay, respectively. RESULTS: The PIVKA-II level in the HCC patients was significantly higher than the non-HCC chronic liver disease patients (903.0+/-1156.7 vs. 111.7+/-211.0 mAU/ mL, respectively, P<0.01). PIVKA-II and AFP showed a statistical correlation in HCC patients (r=0.46, P<0.01). The sensitivity and specificity of PIVKA-II for the diagnosis of HCC were 66.7% and 74.1%, respectively, and when tasted together with AFP, the sensitivity was increased by 85.7%. For the ROC curve of PIVKA-II in HCC patients, the specificity of a 250 mAU/mL level of PIVKA-II was 95%. CONCLUSIONS: PIVKA-II was as useful surveillance tool for differentiating HCC from chronic liver disease, and a PIVKA-II value of 250 mAU/ mL was proposed as a significant cut-off value for diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Accuracy of Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Predicting TNM Staging and Circumferential Resection Margin Compared with Pathologic Assessment on Whole-mount Section in Rectal Cancer

PURPOSE: Recently, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become the preferred diagnostic tool for preoperative assessment of TNM staging and circumferential resection margin (CRM) in patients with rectal cancer. The aim of this study is to evaluate the accuracy of preoperative MR imaging in the prediction of T, N stage and CRM compared with pathologic results on whole- mount sections. METHODS: Thirty-five consecutive patients with rectal cancer were enrolled between Dec. 2005 and Apr. 2006. 1.5-T MR imaging, was performed, and pathologic results were investigated on whole-mount sections. The agreement between MR imaging and pathologic examination for the assessment of T, N stage and status of CRM were analyzed using kappa statistics. RESULTS: The accuracy of MR imaging compared with pathologic assessment of T stage was 82.9% (kappa=0.56), and that of N stage was 74.3% (kappa= 0.31). Of the MR imaging planes, the oblique axial plane showed the most accurate prediction of CRM, regardless of tumor position within the circumference of the rectum. The accuracy of MR imaging in the oblique axial plane for predicting the CRM was 81.0% (kappa=0.62) in anterior and posterior rectal tumors and 71.4% (kappa=0.43) in laterally located rectal tumors. With a different CRM criteria for the measured distance in MR imaging, the accuracy of the 2-mm CRM criterion was 77.1% (kappa=0.53). CONCLUSIONS: MR imaging in predicting T stage showed fair agreement according to kappa statistics. Of the MR imaging planes, the oblique axial plane provided the most accurate CRM information compared with pathologic examination. The actual measured distance of the CRM in MR imaging can be applied to the pathologic CRM.

Limited Polyarteritis Nodosa Presenting as Acute Appendicitis / 대한류마티스학회지

Polyarteritis nodosa (PAN) is a systemic necrotizing vasculitis of small and medium-sized muscular arteries that typically involve multiple organs, including peripheral nerve, skin, joint, muscle, gastrointestinal tract, kidney, and heart. In addition to systemic involvement of the classical PAN, localized diseases of the gallbladder, uterus, testis, and skin have been reported. In particular, a limited involvement of the appendix is an unusual manifestation of PAN and usually runs a favorable prognosis when compared with the classical PAN. We described a 13-year-old woman with a limited form of PAN presenting as acute appendicitis without other systemic manifestations. She recovered after exploratory laparotomy and appendectomy without administration of steroid or immunosuppressant.

Clinical charateristics of pregnancy-induced hypertensive mothers and their neonates

No abstract available.