Survival Outcomes in Patients with Breast Cancer: Low Volume Single Center Study

Purpose@#Breast cancer is the second most common malignancy in Korean women, and its incidence has increased rapidly. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the treatment outcomes of patients with breast cancer treated at a low volume center. @*Methods@#We retrospectively analyzed 401 patients with stage I-III breast cancer at Chosun University Hospital from January 1998 to December 2013. We reviewed medical records including clinical information and pathologic reports. @*Results@#We found 401 cases of newly diagnosed breast cancer, including 5 (1.2%) male breast cancer patients. According to histological features, there were 43 cases (ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS): 35 cases [8.7%], lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS): 8 cases [2.0%]) of non-invasive carcinoma, 350 cases (87.3%) of invasive carcinoma, 2 cases (0.5%) of Paget’s disease, 1 case (0.2%) of malignant phyllodes tumor, 3 cases (0.7%) of sarcoma, and 2 cases (0.5%) of other types. With respect to disease stage, 117 (29.2%) patients were in stage I, 176 (43.9%) in stage II, and 78 (19.4%) in stage III. The type of surgical approaches were breast-conserving surgery (153, 38.2%), modified radical mastectomy (243, 60.6%), wide excision (4, 1.0%), and others (1, 0.2%). Five-year disease-free survival rates were 100% (stage 0), 95.4% (stage I), 91.4% (stage IIa), 75% (stage IIb), 78% (stage IIIa), 50% (stage IIIb), and 59.2% (stage IIIc). Overall survival rates were 100% (stage 0), 96.2% (stage I), 94.3% (stage IIa), 85.4% (stage IIb), 84.8% (stage IIIa), 50% (stage IIIb), and 55.5% (stage IIIc). @*Conclusion@#Although the patients were treated at a low-volume center, their favorable survival outcomes are notable. Further multicenter (low-volume centers) research is warranted.

Comparison of the Effect of Intratympanic Steroid Injection Medications in Patients with Idiopathic Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss / 대한이비인후과학회지

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: This study is aimed to investigate the efficacy of dexamethasone and methylprednisolone when used for Intratympanic steroid injection (ITSI) concurrent with systemic steroid as primary therapy. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: We undertook a retrospective study of 106 patients diagnosed with Idiopathic Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss at our institution. These patients were divided into the following groups based on their intratympanic steroid medications: Group 1 (which received dexamethasone for ITSI) and Group 2 (which received methylprednisolone for ITSI). The severity of pain after ITSI was also compared using Visual Analogue Scale. RESULTS: The therapeutic results of both groups showed no significant difference. The improvement of pure tone audiometry average threshold were 18.3±19.5 dB for Group 1 and 22.4±25.8 dB for Group 2, with no significant differences (p=0.402). The recovery rate according to Siegel's criteria were 34/70 (48.6%) and 18/36 (50.0%) respectively, with no significant differences (p=0.889). The degree of pain after ITSI were 1.51±1.06 and 3.92±1.63 for Group 1 and 2, respectively, showing significant differences (p<0.001). Again, there were no significant differences even when accompanying symptoms or severity of initial hearing loss were considered. CONCLUSION: There was no significant difference between efficacy of dexamethasone and methylprednisolone when used as primary therapy. Methylprednisolne caused more severe pain after ITSI, suggesting the choice of dexamethasone. Further studies are needed about the concentration of injected steroid.

Risk Factors of Saddle Nose Deformity after Septoplasty / 대한이비인후과학회지

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Surgeons operate carefully to prevent nasal deformity during septoplasty, however, rarely unfavorable esthetic outcomes such as saddle nose deformity may occur. This study was designed to investigate patient factors associated with post-septoplasty saddle deformity. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: Of 588 patients who underwent endonasal conservative septoplasty from Jan. 2011 to Dec. 2014, a total of 183 patients were enrolled in this study group after exclusion. Patients were divided into two groups: 12 patients who developed saddle deformity of nasal dorsum after septoplasty belonged to the 'deformity group', and the remaining 171 patients were enrolled in the 'non-deformity group'. We investigated preoperative external nose status, patterns of septal deformity, dorsal septal thickness, the angle of axial and coronal deviation of caudal sepum on CT scan. RESULTS: The postoperative saddle deformity was not found to correlate with the location of the most deviated septum and the thickness of dorsal septum (p>0.05). 50% of patients in the deformity group had saddle nose preoperatively, showing statistical differences between the two groups (p=0.000). 75% of patients in the deformity group had severe deviation at the most deviated site, also showing a significant difference compared with the non-deformity group (p=0.011). The axial and coronal deviation angle of caudal septum in the deformity group were significantly increased compared with the non-deformity group (p<0.01). CONCLUSION: The preoperative saddle nose, severity of deviation, and angle of axial and coronal deviation of caudal septum are all possible risk factors of postoperative saddle deformity. We recommend that the surgeon should check these factors before septoplasty to prevent postoperative saddle nose deformity.