ABSTRACT
Background@#With the increasing frequency of body contouring surgery following weight loss, plastic surgeons have paid considerable attention to subcutaneous fat. However, few studies have investigated superficial and deep fat changes after bariatric surgery, and such studies have been limited to macroscopic assessments. The purpose of this study was to evaluate changes in superficial and deep fat in bariatric surgery patients using computed tomography (CT) to obtain quantitative measurements. @*Methods@#This study included 11 patients (five males, six females; average age, 27 years) who underwent bariatric surgery at Dongsan Medical Center from October 2013 to October 2016. We excluded patients with a body mass index (BMI) <30 kg/m2 and those without both preoperative and postoperative CT images. We analyzed changes in subcutaneous fat area on CT images, with a mean follow-up of 5.5 months. We also performed a subgroup analysis using a BMI cutoff of 40 kg/m2. @*Results@#Patients undergoing bariatric surgery showed significant reductions in weight, total fat, and the area of superficial and deep fat (P=0.002). In patients with a BMI less than 40 kg/m2, the reduction rate of superficial subcutaneous adipose tissue (sSAT) tended to be higher than that of deep subcutaneous adipose tissue (dSAT). Conversely, in patients with a BMI over 40 kg/m2, the reduction rate of dSAT was higher than that of sSAT. @*Conclusions@#We observed a difference in the reduction rate of sSAT and dSAT during weight loss after bariatric surgery, although it was not statistically significant. The reduction rates differed according to BMI.
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: The Trastuzumab for gastric cancer (GC) trial identified human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) as a predictor of successful treatment with trastuzumab (HER2 receptor targeting agent) among patients with advanced/metastatic GC. To date, the prevalence of HER2 overexpression in the Korean population is unknown. The present study aimed to assess the incidence of HER2 positivity among GC and gastroesophageal (GE) junction cancer samples and the relationship between HER2 overexpression and clinicopathological characteristics in Korean patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Tumor samples collected from 1,695 patients with histologically proven GC or GE junction enrolled at 14 different hospitals in Korea were examined. After gathering clinicopathological data of all patients, HER2 status was assessed by immunohistochemistry (IHC) at each hospital, and IHC 2+ cases were subjected to silver-enhanced in situ hybridization at 3 central laboratories. RESULTS: A total of 182 specimens tested positive for HER2, whereas 1,505 tested negative. Therefore, the overall HER2-positive rate in this study was 10.8% (95% confidence interval: 9.3%–12.3%). The HER2-positive rate was higher among intestinal-type cases (17.6%) than among other types, and was higher among patients older than 70 years and 50 years of age, compared to other age groups. CONCLUSIONS: Our evaluation of the HER2 positivity rate (10.8%) among Korean patients with GC and GE junction indicated the necessity of epidemiological data when conducting studies related to HER2 expression in GC and GE junction.