Long-term clinical outcomes after endovascular management of ruptured pseudoaneurysm in patients undergoing pancreaticoduodenectomy

PURPOSE: Recent studies have analyzed the short-term clinical outcomes of ndovascular management. However, the long-term outcomes are unknown. This study aimed to investigate clinical outcomes after endovascular management for ruptured pseudoaneurysm in patients after pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD). METHODS: The medical records of 2,783 patients who underwent PD were retrospectively reviewed at a single center. Of 62 patients who received intervention after pseudonaeurysm rupture, 57 patients (91.9%) experienced eventual success of hemostasis. The patients were composed as follows: (embolization only [EMB], n = 30), (stent-graft placement only [STENT], n = 19) and (both embolization and stent-graft placement simultaneously or different times [EMB + STENT], n = 8). Long-term complications were defined as events that occur more than 30 days after the last successful endovascular treatment. RESULTS: Among 57 patients, short-term stent-graft related complications developed in 3 patients (5.3%) and clinical complication developed in 18 patients (31.5%). Nine (15.8%) had long-term stent-graft related complications, which involved partial thrombosis in 5 cases, occlusion in 3 cases and migration in 1 case. Except for 1 death, the remaining 8 cases did not experience clinical complications. The stent graft primary patency rate was 88.9% after 1 month, 84.2% after 1 year, and 63.2% after 2 years. Of 57 patients, 30 days mortality occurred in 8 patients (14.0%). CONCLUSION: After recovery from initial complication, most of patients did not experience fatal clinical complication during long-term follow-up. Endovascular management is an effective and safe management of pseudoaneurysm rupture after PD in terms of long-term safety.

Usefulness of intraopertive ultrasonography during directional atherectomy using SilverHawk/TurboHawk system

PURPOSE: Directional atherectomy (DA) was introduced for the management of infrainguinal arterial stenosis or occlusive lesions. The procedure success rate in the DEFINITIVE LE study was determined using radiologic imaging. The aim of our study was to determine the usefulness of intraoperative ultrasonography (USG) during DA for evaluating the early results of this procedure. METHODS: Patients who underwent DA from January to December 2014 were reviewed retrospectively. Twenty lesions from 14 patients with femoral artery stenosis (>70% stenosis) with short segment occlusive lesions (<2 cm in length) were treated. Among 20 lesions, 3 were treated with the TurboHawk system with a protective device due to lesion calcification. The percentage of stenosis during and after DA was determined with USG. RESULTS: Median follow-up was 5.1 months, and the procedural success rate (<30% stenosis at the end of the procedure) was 100% on angiography, but only 30% on intraoperative USG. On USG, median residual stenosis was 40% (range, 28%–42%) at the end of DA, 40% (range, 30%–55%) at 1 month, 55% (range, 35%–85%) at 6 months, and 64% (range, 60%–100%) at 1 year. There was one dissection, but no cases of perforation, pseudoaneurysm, or thrombosis. Primary patency, which was defined as a peak systolic velocity ratio ≤3.5 with no reintervention at 6 months, was found in 18 lesions (90%), and 11 of 14 patients (78.6%) were free of ischemic symptoms such as claudication at 6 months. CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrated that DA with intraoperative USG is an effective treatment option for short segment occlusive lesions of the femoral artery.

Portal Vein Stenting for Delayed Jejunal Varix Bleeding Associated with Portal Venous Occlusion after Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery

OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to describe portal stenting for postoperative portal occlusion with delayed (≥ 3 months) variceal bleeding in the afferent jejunal loop. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eleven consecutive patients (age range, 2–79 years; eight men and three women) who underwent portal stenting between April 2009 and December 2015 were included in the study. Preoperative medical history and the postoperative clinical course were reviewed. Characteristics of portal occlusion and details of procedures were also investigated. Technical success, treatment efficacy (defined as disappearance of jejunal varix on follow-up CT), and clinical success were analyzed. Primary stent patency rate was plotted using the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: All patients underwent hepatobiliary-pancreatic cancer surgery except two children with liver transplantation for biliary atresia. Portal occlusion was caused by benign postoperative change (n = 6) and local tumor recurrence (n = 5). Variceal bleeding occurred at 27 months (4 to 72 months) and portal stenting was performed at 37 months (4 to 121 months), on average, postoperatively. Technical success, treatment efficacy, and clinical success rates were 90.9, 100, and 81.8%, respectively. The primary patency rate of portal stent was 88.9% during the mean follow-up period of 9 months. Neither procedure-related complication nor mortality occurred. CONCLUSION: Interventional portal stenting is an effective treatment for delayed jejunal variceal bleeding due to portal occlusion after hepatobiliary-pancreatic surgery.

Sensitization to animal allergens and allergic symptoms during exposure to them in Korean veterinary researchers

PURPOSE: Veterinary researchers are exposed to variable animal allergens. However, sensitization to them and allergic symptoms during exposure to them in this group are not sufficiently evaluated worldwide, especially in Korea. The objective of this study is to evaluate sensitization to animal allergens and allergic symptoms during exposure to them in Korean veterinary researchers. METHODS: Thirty-two veterinary researchers who participated in the 2016 annual symposium of the Korean Society of Veterinary Science were asked to answer questionnaires regarding allergic symptoms during animal exposure and underwent skin prick tests for animal allergens. Animal allergens consisted of chicken feather and 10 mammals, epithelia as well as cow's milk, hen's egg, and 7 animal types of meat. RESULTS: There were 13 subjects who complained of allergic symptoms during exposure to certain animal epithelia and 19 who did not. Between the 2 groups, there were no differences in age, sex, underlying allergic disease, family history of allergy, current occupation and its duration, numbers and specie of contact animals, or daily contact time. Meanwhile, the sensitization rates to mouse, horse, rabbit, and guinea pig were significantly higher in the symptomatic group. Rhinoconjunctivitis symptoms were the most common allergic symptoms related to animal exposure were most common followed by dermatologic symptom, and symptom of lower respiratory tract. CONCLUSION: We found that sensitizations to some animal epithelia were more frequent in Korean veterinary researchers with allergic symptoms during exposure to animal compared to those without it, and their most common symptoms were rhinoconjunctivitis symptoms.

Anaphylaxis after consumption of abalone

Abalone is popular seafood in Asia; however, allergy to abalone was rarely reported. We report a case of anaphylaxis after consumption of abalone. A 24-year-old female visited an Emergency Department, complaining of cough, dyspnea, rhinorrhea, generalized urticaria, facial edema, and wheezing that had developed 1 hour after consumption of abalone. She was discharged when her symptoms subsided after antihistamine and dexamethasone were given. One month later, she was referred to our outpatient clinic. We performed skin prick tests, measurement of serum specific IgE antibody level, and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) with IgE immunoblotting. Both skin prick and specific IgE antibody tests were positive for abalone crude extract. In SDS-PAGE with IgE immunoblotting, we identified possible antigens sized 55, 100, and 25 kDa, respectively. This is the first case of abalone-induced anaphylaxis in Korea.

Experience of direct percutaneous sac injection in type II endoleak using cone beam computed tomography

Cone beam CT, usually used in dental area, could easily obtain 3-dimensional images using cone beam shaped ionized radiation. Cone beam CT is very useful for direct percutaneous sac injection (DPSI) which needs very precise measurement to avoid puncture of inferior vena cava or vessel around sac or stent graft. Here we describe two cases of DPSI using cone beam CT. In case 1, a 79-year-old male had widening of preexisted type II endoleak after endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR). However, transarterial embolization failed due to tortuous collateral branches of lumbar arteries. In case 2, a 72-year-old female had symptomatic sac enlargement by type II endoleak after EVAR. However, there was no route to approach the lumbar arteries. Therefore, we performed DPSI assisted by cone beam CT in cases 1, 2. Six-month CT follow-up revealed no sign of sac enlargement by type II endoleak.

Ten year outcomes after bypass surgery in aortoiliac occlusive disease / 대한외과학회지

PURPOSE: Most outcome studies of bypass surgery are limited to five years of follow-up. However, as human life expectancy has increased, analyses of more long-term outcomes are needed. The aim of this study is to evaluate 10-year outcomes of anatomical bypasses in aortoiliac occlusive disease. METHODS: From 1996 to 2009, 92 patients (82 males and 10 females) underwent aortic anatomical bypasses to treat aortoiliac occlusive disease at Samsung Medical Center. The patients were reviewed retrospectively. Kaplan-Meier survival analyses were performed using PASW ver. 18.0 (IBM Co). RESULTS: A total of 72 patients (78.3%) underwent aorto-femoral bypasses (uni- or bi-femoral), 15 patients (16.3%) underwent aorto-iliac bypasses (uni- or bi-iliac), and 5 patients (5.4%) underwent aorto-iliac and aorto-femoral bypasses. The overall primary patency rates of the 92 patients were 86.2% over 5 years and 77.6% over 10 years. The 10-year limb salvage rate and overall survival rate were 97.7% and 91.7%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The overall patency rates of bypass graft and limb salvage rates decreased as time passed. The analysis of results after bypass surgery to treat arterial occlusive disease will be needed to extend for 10 years of follow-up.

Spontaneous aortic rupture in a patient with neurofibromatosis type 1 / 대한외과학회지

Neurofibromatosis type I (NF-1) is a rare autosomal dominant genetic disorder occurring in 1 in 3,000 individuals. Vasculopathy is a rarely reported finding in patients with NF-1. Here, we report a case of recurrent aortic pseudoaneurysm after endovascular aneurysm repair in a 49-year-old male patient with NF-1. On the sixth postoperative day following a successful open surgical repair of an aortic pseudoaneurysm, he developed hemoperitoneum due to a delayed rupture of the mesenteric artery branch. This was treated with endovascular coil embolization. We report the clinical features and histologic findings of this rare vascular disorder with a review of the relevant literature.

Modulation of Alpha 1 Adrenergic Receptors on Urinary Bladder in Rat Spinal Cord Injury Model / 대한배뇨장애요실금학회지

PURPOSE: Whereas many studies have focused on the vesical changes of the alpha1 adrenergic receptor (AR) subtypes in partial outlet obstruction, few studies have addressed the modulation of the alpha1 AR subtypes after spinal cord injury (SCI). Therefore, we studied the modulation of the alpha1 ARs in urinary bladder in a rat SCI model. METHODS: Four weeks after a SCI, the whole vesical bodies from eight female Sprague-Dawley rats and from eight controls were harvested. The total RNA was extracted from the samples and was used to prepare cDNA. We developed standard plasmid constructs of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) and three alpha1 ARs (alpha1a, alpha1b, and alpha1d) to convert the cycle threshold (Ct) values from real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) into subtype mRNA concentrations. The detected Ct values of 16 samples from RT-PCR were interpolated into the standard plasmid curves. RESULTS: All serially diluted standard samples showed very good linearity. The mRNA expression of GAPDH was higher in the SCI group, whereas the mRNA expression of all alpha1 ARs was lower in the SCI group than in the control animals. The alpha1a, alpha1b, and alpha1d mRNA expression in the controls was 81.7%, 3.3%, and 15.1%, respectively, whereas the alpha1a, alpha1b, and alpha1d mRNA expression in the SCI group was 33.5%, 5.2%, and 60.9%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: SCI moderates the alpha1 AR mRNA subtypes in the urinary bladder. The relatively increased alpha1d or decreased alpha1a AR mRNA expression may be a therapeutic candidate for controlling the symptoms of neurogenic bladder after SCI.

Natural History of Type II Endoleaks after Endovascular Aneurysm Repair in Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm / 대한혈관외과학회지

PURPOSE: Endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) for the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) has shown excellent early outcomes. However, long-term durability continues to be questioned because of endoleaks. The optimal management of type II endoleaks remains controversial because little is known about their long-term natural history. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the natural history of type II endoleaks and to study factors associated with persistent type II endoleaks. METHODS: On a retrospective basis, we analyzed 98 patients who underwent EVAR for incidence and outcome of type II endoleaks. Patients with type II endoleaks were evaluated using computed tomography angiography or Duplex scans at one, 6 and 12 months after their EVAR, and annually thereafter to evaluate both the persistence of the endoleak and the size of the aneurysm sac. RESULTS: Type II endoleaks were detected during the follow-up periods in 38 patients (39.8%), who underwent EVAR (mean follow-up: 23.7 months). Spontaneous sealing of type II endoleaks by 6 months after EVAR occurred in 15 patients (39.4%), meaning that there were 23 patients (60.6%) whose leaks were ongoing for more than 6 months. Four patients were treated using embolization because of an enlarging aneurysm sac. CONCLUSION: Most type II endoleaks are transient and do not require intervention. However, particularly persistent endoleaks could lead to aneurysm enlargement and to delayed aortic rupture. We did not find a significant difference in any number of preoperative patient factors between patients with transient, persistent, or no type II endoleaks. Further studies based on independent data sets are needed to validate these results.

The Prevalence of Abdominal Cystic Lesion in Patients with Vascular Disease

PURPOSE: This study evaluated the prevalence of cystic disease in the intra-abdominal organs in a normal population and a group of patients with vascular disease. METHODS: We reviewed the medical records and computed tomography scans of the vascular disease group and the control group. Vascular disease group (n=586) were patients who suffered with abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), aorto-iliac occlusive disease (AOD) and peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD) and who were treated in our institute. The control group (n=424) were patients who visited the health promotion center in our institute during the same period. RESULTS: The prevalence of abdominal cysts in the control group and the vascular disease group was 41.7% and 65.2%, respectively. The vascular disease group showed a higher prevalence of abdominal cystic lesion for all the specific vascular diseases. However, when the two groups were stratified according to age, the vascular disease group displayed no significant difference in the prevalence of abdominal cyst compared to that of the control group. CONCLUSION: Abdominal cystic lesions are common in patients with vascular disease, including AAA, AOD, and PAOD. But this high prevalence of abdominal cystic lesions seems to be associated with the advanced age of vascular disease patients. Further molecular-based research is needed to clarify the pathogenetic relationship between vascular disease and abdominal cystic lesions.

Five-year Survival Analysis of a Cohort of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients Who Treated at the National Cancer Center, Korea / 대한간학회지

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: We investigated the five-year survival outcomes of a large cohort of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients who were treated at a single institute, and this is a follow-up study of a previous report. METHODS: Nine hundred four HCC patients who were treated at the National Cancer Center Korea were enrolled and they were followed till February 2007. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 56.0 years and 731 patients were male. Six hundred seventy-seven (74.9%) patients died and the overall 5-year survival rate (5-YSR) was 23.9%. The 5-YSRs of the patients with modified UICC stage I, II and III were 61.2%, 54.4% and 18.4%, respectively, and the median survival time was 4.3 and 3.7 months for the stage IVa and IVb patients, respectively. For the analysis of the treatment modality, surgical resection showed significantly better outcomes for the five-year survival as compared with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) for Child-Pugh A patients with modified UICC stage I or II disease (80.1% vs 52.8%, respectively, P<.001), or stage III disease (60.7% vs 17.0%, respectively, P<.001). For patients with advanced stage IVb disease, TACE, systemic chemotherapy and radiotherapy increased the median survival period more than conservative management for the Child-Pugh class A patients. The serum alpha-fetoprotein level, portal vein tumor thrombosis, the Child-Pugh class, the tumor stage, the tumor type and symptoms were related to the prognosis. CONCLUSIONS: This study presented, for the first time, the 5-YSRs of a cohort of HCC patients.

Clinical Study of Gallbladder Carcinoma Identified after Simple Cholecystectomy as an Initial Operation

PURPOSE: Gallbladder carcinoma (GBC) is a rare neoplasm with poor prognosis. With the introduction and the wide acceptance of laparoscopic surgery, the diagnostic rate of incidental GBC has increased. We report our experience with the reoperated GBC diagnosed after simple cholecystectomy. METHODS: From March 2001 to July 2005, 17 patients with a postoperative diagnosis of GBC after prior simple cholecystectomy were referred to our center for curative reoperation. The types of simple cholecystectomy were open cholecystectomy in 5 cases, and laparoscopic cholecystectomy in 12 cases. The types of reoperation were hepatic wedge resection with lymph node dissection (HWR /(c) LND, n=9), HWR with LND and bile duct resection (HWR /(c) LND and BDR, n=4), right hepatectomy (RH) with LND and BDR (n=1), extended RH with LND, BDR and caudate lobectomy (n=1) and extended left hepatectomy with LND and BDR (n=1). Residual tumor is defined as the tumor tissue detected on reoperation; bile duct, liver, lymph node, lymphatics, vessels and nerves. RESULTS: There is no operative mortality. The median hospital stay was 18.5days (range, 8 - 44 days). The median interval between 1st and 2nd operation was 23.5 days (range, 6 - 44 days). The median operative time was 379 minutes (range, 240-726). Five complications occurred in 4 patients. One patient received intraoperative transfusion. The depth of tumor invasion in 17 patients was T2 in 15, T3 in 1, and T4 in 1. There was no residual tumor in 8 out of 17 patients. In the other 9 patients, the residual tumor was identified after reoperation; liver in 2, lymph node in 7, bile duct in 3, lymphatics in 6, vessels in 3, and nerves in 3. Three patients of 17 patients recurred and 2 patients of them died. In curative reoperation after simple cholecystectomy, the median follow-up length was 14.7 months (1-53 months). One- and two-year survival rates were 90.9%, 79.6%, respectively. Vascular, lymphatic, and neural invasions were the significant risk factors for recurrence by the log-rank test. CONCLUSION: Reoperation of GBC diagnosed after simple cholecystectomy is safe and may be effective. Lymphatic, vascular, and neural invasion may have a dismal effect on the disease-free survival.

Survival Analysis for Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma according to Stage, Liver Function and Treatment Modalities / 대한간학회지

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is 3rd leading cause of cancer in Korea and the prognosis for HCC patients is poor. For assessing the present treatment outcome, this study analyzed the three-year survival rate (3-YSR) and the prognostic factors for patients with HCC in Korea. METHODS: Between November 2000 and December 2003, 905 patients with HCC who were diagnosed and treated at the National Cancer Center Korea were enrolled in this study. The clinical variables, tumor characteristics and survival periods were analyzed. RESULTS: The mean age of all patients was 56.2+/-10.3 years and 732 (80.9%) patients were male (M:F=4.2:1). 508 (56.1%) patients died and the median survival period was 15.3 months. The overall 3-YSR of the patients with modified UICC stage I, II, III, IVa and IVb were 67.4%, 65.2%, 30.7%, 9.0% and 5.0%, respectively. The modified UICC stage could not differentiate stage I from II, and stage IVa from IVb, on the 3-YSR. The 3-YSR of the Child-Pugh class A patients with modified UICC stage I or II was 85.4% by surgical resection and it was 69.6% by transcatheter chemoembolization (TACE), respectively (P= .461), and those values for patients with stage III were 49.2% and 36.8%, respectively (P=.081). As compared with systemic chemotherapy or conservative therapy, TACE increased the survival rate more for the Child-Pugh class A patients with stage IV. The independent prognostic factors were serum AFP, portal vein thrombosis, the Child-Pugh classification and the stage of HCC. CONCLUSIONS: This follow-up study will be helpful in assessing the results of treatments for HCC and it will provide data for the establishment of a more effective treatment strategy.

Prognostic Factor Analysis of 200 Consecutive Hepatic Resections for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

PURPOSE: The long-term outcome after liver resection for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is somewhat disappointing because of tumor recurrence. The purposes of this study were to evaluate the prognostic factors and to suggest the data to improve the long-term outcome of hepatic resection for HCC. METHODS: A retrospective survey was carried out in 200 patients undergoing hepatic resection for HCC from April 2001 to June 2004. The various clinicopathologic factors were analysed for the overall survival (OS) and the disease-free survival (DFS) rates by the univariate test (log rank test) and multivariate test (Cox regression model). RESULTS: There were one hospital mortality and 23% morbidity after partial hepatectomy. Intraoperative transfusion was given to 20 patients (10%). Mean follow-up period was 19 months (range, 2-43). The 1-, 2- and 3-year OS rates after hepatic resection for HCC were 90.5%, 86.8% and 76.2% and the 1-, 2- and 3-year DFS rates were 65.5%, 54.3% and 49.4%, respectively. By the univariate analysis for OS, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), Child-Pugh classification, Edmondson-Steiner histologic grade, microvascular invasion, major vessel invasion, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), TNM stage, transfusion, surgical margin involvement and presence of complication were significant for survival. By the multivariate analysis, Child-Pugh classification, Edmondson-Steiner histologic grade, major vessel invasion and complication were independent risk factors for OS. Whereas viral marker, Child-Pugh classification, microvascular invasion, major vessel invasion, AFP, TNM stage, surgical margin involvement and presence of complication were the significant risk factors for DFS by the univariate analysis, viral marker, microvascular invasion, major vessel invasion, surgical margin involvement and presence of complication were the independent predictive factors of the DFS. CONCLUSION: Hepatic resection for HCC has become safe. To improve the long-term outcome of hepatic resection for HCC, the patients with poor liver function or major vessel invasion should be precluded in hepatic resection, if possible, and adequate surgical margin and avoidance of complication are mandatory.

A Case of Osteoclast-like Giant Cell Tumor of the Pancreas / 대한소화기학회지

Osteoclast-like giant cell tumor of the pancreas is a very rare tumor. Despite their striking morphologic resemblance to certain mesenchymal tumors of bone and tendon sheath, it has been suggested that these tumors may arise from epithelial precursors. This unusual tumor presents in the 6th or 7th decade with a nearly equal gender ratio. Pure forms of osteoclast-like giant cell tumor have a better prognosis because they have a predilection to local spread, are slower to metastasize and rarely metastasize to lymph nodes, but these forms are very rare. We present an osteoclast-like giant cell tumor arising in the body of the pancreas in a 71 year-old male patient. The tumor was composed of two major cell types: atypical mononuclear cells and abundant osteoclast-like multinucleated giant cells. Immunohistochemical studies showed that atypical cells were strongly reactive for vimentin and focally reactive for cytokeratin. In contrast, the giant cells were immunoreactive for CD68, but negative for cytokeratin. Three months later, the tumor size increased and liver metastasis was newly developed. He died at 11 months after the diagnosis.

The Clinical Report of 1,078 Cases of Hepatocellular Carcinomas: National Cancer Center Experience / 대한간학회지

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third leading cause of cancer and the 5 year survival rate is 9.6% in Korea. To develop a strategy for surveillance and treatments, we studied the recent clinical characteristics of HCC diagnosed at single institution in Korea, where is in an endemic area of chronic hepatitis B. METHODS: One thousand and seventy eight patients with HCC who visited the National Cancer Center between June 2001 and December 2003 were retrospectively studied. RESULTS: The male/female ratio was 4.5:1. The mean age of the patients was 56.3 years. 74.2% of patient had hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections, 8.6% had hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections, 6.9% of the patients abused alcohol and 10.3% of the patients had non-B non-C considered as the etiologic factors of their HCC. Only 10.0% of patients had a tumor sized 2 cm or less and 53.3% of patients had a large tumor over 5 cm in diameter. 33.2% of patients had a single tumor. At the time of diagnosis, the modified UICC staging was as follows: 6.5%, 20.1%, 30.9%, 25.2% and 17.3% in stages I, II, III, IVa and IVb, respectively. The initial treatment performed was transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (48.2%), radiofrequency ablation (1.5%), hepatic resection (11.2%), systemic chemotherapy (7.5%), radiotherapy (2.1%), and conservative medical treatments (29.5%). The mean number of treatments was 1.65. The response rates to the initial treatments were 27.9% (complete response), 23.6% (partial response), 7.5% (minimal response), 14.2% (stable disease), and 30.4% (progressive disease). CONCLUSIONS: HBV infection is a major etiologic factor for Korean HCC patients. Most cases are still in advanced stages and these cases responded poorly to any treatments. The national surveillance program and its guideline for HCC are expected to improve the survival of HCC patients.

A case of spontaneous rupture of hepatic angiomyolipoma / 대한내과학회지

Hepatic angiomyolipoma (AML) is a very rare neoplasm compared to that of the kidney. Few of these occurred in symptomatic patients and showed intratumoral hemorrhagic foci. The spontaneous rupture of AML is a rare complication that occurs most commonly in the kidney. Only two cases of spontaneous rupture of hepatic AML treated surgically have been published. We now report a case of a 39-year-old woman with chronic hepatitis B and spontaneous rupture of hepatic AML mimicking hepatocellular carcinoma, which was successfully treated by transcather arterial chemoembolization. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of ruptured hepatic AML treated successfully by transarterial embolization.

The Correlation of an ICS-male Questionnaire for Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms and Bladder Outlet Obstruction Parameters in Korea / 대한비뇨기과학회지

PURPOSE: We investigated the prevalence of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), and the inconvenience of each symptom, using an ICS-male Questionnaire (ICS-mQ) in Korean man. We also evaluated the relationships between symptoms, prostate volume and urodynamic parameters of a bladder outlet obstruction (BOO). MATERIALS AND METHODS: 180 male LUTS patients, from 7 urological institutions, were enrolled in this study. The ICS-mQ was used to measure the severity of the symptoms, with a bothersomeness scale. Transrectal sonography and urodynamic studies, including Schaefer linear passive urethral resistance relation (L-PURR), were performed. RESULTS: The 5 most frequent symptoms were voiding symptoms, such as reduced stream, terminal dribbling, incomplete emptying, intermittency and hesitancy, in that order. However, the 5 most bothersome symptoms included 2 voiding, and 3 storage, symptoms, such as incomplete emptying, urge incontinence, pain in bladder, nocturnal incontinence and hesitancy. 34.4% of the nocturia patients felt quite, or severely, bothered, but only 1.1% felt no problem. The mean value of estimated prostate volume, by sonography, was 29.8+/-14.1ml. There were no correlations between the severity of symptoms and the prostate size. There were also little, or no, correlations between a wide range of symptoms and the urodynamic parameters of BOO. CONCLUSIONS: The most frequent symptoms of male patients with LUTS are voiding symptoms, but they suffered more from storage, than from voiding, symptoms. The severities of the symptoms, or the bothersomeness, were not correlated with the prostate size or the urodynamic parameters of a bladder outlet obstruction. Therefore, the relief of a bladder outlet obstruction is not crucial to relieve the symptoms.

The Correlation of an ICS-male Questionnaire for Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms and Bladder Outlet Obstruction Parameters in Korea / 대한비뇨기과학회지

PURPOSE: We investigated the prevalence of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), and the inconvenience of each symptom, using an ICS-male Questionnaire (ICS-mQ) in Korean man. We also evaluated the relationships between symptoms, prostate volume and urodynamic parameters of a bladder outlet obstruction (BOO). MATERIALS AND METHODS: 180 male LUTS patients, from 7 urological institutions, were enrolled in this study. The ICS-mQ was used to measure the severity of the symptoms, with a bothersomeness scale. Transrectal sonography and urodynamic studies, including Schaefer linear passive urethral resistance relation (L-PURR), were performed. RESULTS: The 5 most frequent symptoms were voiding symptoms, such as reduced stream, terminal dribbling, incomplete emptying, intermittency and hesitancy, in that order. However, the 5 most bothersome symptoms included 2 voiding, and 3 storage, symptoms, such as incomplete emptying, urge incontinence, pain in bladder, nocturnal incontinence and hesitancy. 34.4% of the nocturia patients felt quite, or severely, bothered, but only 1.1% felt no problem. The mean value of estimated prostate volume, by sonography, was 29.8+/-14.1ml. There were no correlations between the severity of symptoms and the prostate size. There were also little, or no, correlations between a wide range of symptoms and the urodynamic parameters of BOO. CONCLUSIONS: The most frequent symptoms of male patients with LUTS are voiding symptoms, but they suffered more from storage, than from voiding, symptoms. The severities of the symptoms, or the bothersomeness, were not correlated with the prostate size or the urodynamic parameters of a bladder outlet obstruction. Therefore, the relief of a bladder outlet obstruction is not crucial to relieve the symptoms.