A Case of Focal Autoimmune Chronic Pancreatitis Improved with Oral Steroid Therapy / 대한소화기내시경학회지

Clinically, patients with pancreatic cancer and focal autoimmune chronic pancreatitis share many features, such as being elderly, painless jaundice, new-onset diabetes mellitus, and weight loss. Hence, it is difficult to differentiate between the two conditions. Nevertheless, it is very important to distinguish between focal autoimmune chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer because they have different treatment modalities and prognoses. We encountered a case of a 72-year-old man who developed painless jaundice. The patient was diagnosed with focal autoimmune chronic pancreatitis instead of pancreatic cancer from the CT, ERCP, MRCP findings accompanying with an increased IgG4 level. The abnormalities in the clinical, laboratory, and radiological findings improved after 2 weeks of oral steroid treatment. After 3 months of oral steroid treatment, his disease showed further improvement. To our knowledge, this is a rare case of focal autoimmune chronic pancreatitis that improved with oral steroid treatment.

A Case of Asymptomatic, Anicteric Early-stage Intrahepatic Ductal Cholangiocarcinoma / 대한소화기내시경학회지

Asymptomatic intrahepatic early-stage bile duct carcinoma without jaundice is difficult to diagnose because it does not have any characteristic clinical signs and symptoms. The clinical implication of early-stage intrahepatic ductal cholangiocarcinoma is great, because it allows curative resection and excellent long-term survival. Recently we experienced early-stage intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma which was incidentally detected by a clue of elevated serum alkaline phosphatase and gamma-GT without jaundice and any symptoms. Abdominal US showed focal intrahepatic bile duct dilatation. ERCP could not demonstrate the lesion, while MRCP revealed the obstructed duct (S6) with proximal dilatation. For evaluation of a focal intrahepatic stricture, PTCS examination and biopsy were done. With the help of MRCP and PTCS, the lesion was diagnosed as papillary adenocarcinoma preoperatively. The patient was underwent right liver lobectomy and confirmed early-stage intrahepatic ductal adenocarcinoma and she is well-being without cancer recurrence for a follow-up period of 1 year.

A Case of Metastatic Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Presenting with Numb Chin Syndrome / 결핵

Numb chin syndrome is a rare clinical manifestation, characterized by focal sensory loss and paresthesia of the chin. It is more often associated with cancer than with benign disorders, and can be the first manifestation of a cancer. A 60-year-old man presented with focal numbness of right chin and gingiva for 10 days. Chest computed tomography showed a 3 cm sized mass on the distal left main-stem bronchus. Squamous cell carcinoma was diagnosed on bronchoscopic biopsy. However, bony metastasis of mandible was not evident on reontgenogram, CT scan, bone scintigram and positron emission tomography. Despite the chemotherapy with three cycles of paclitaxel and cisplatinum, the cancer was progressed and pain on the right chin was developed 4 months .later. Bone scintigram showed multiple bony metastasis including mandible. Here we report this case with a brief review of the appropriate literature.

A Case Report of Atypical Rectal Carcinoid / 대한소화기내시경학회지

Carcinoid tumors arise from enterochromaffin cells of neural crest origin. Rectal carcinoid tumors make up 1 to 2% of all rectal tumors. Approximately 50% of rectal carcinoid tumors are found incidentally on routine endoscopy, and they are asymtomatic. Rectal carcinoid is easily diagnosed by the characteristic submucosal tumor with yellowish color. There have been, however, some rare cases where the rectal carcinoid tumor was not easily diagnosed because of its atypical feature. We report a case of atypical rectal carcinoid tumor misdiagnosed as rectal cancer on endoscopic finding: this atypical gross morphology on endoscopy may be due to atypical histopathologic findings.