Visceral Obesity If Associated with Gallbladder Polyps

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Gallbladder polyps (GBP) are a common clinical finding and may possess malignant potential. We conducted this study to determine whether visceral obesity is a risk factor for GBP. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed records of subjects who received both ultrasonography and computed tomography with measurements of the areas of visceral adipose tissue and total adipose tissue (TAT) on the same day as health checkups. RESULTS: Ninety-three of 1,615 subjects (5.8%) had GBP and were compared with 186 age- and sex-matched controls. VAT (odds ratio [OR], 2.941; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.325 to 6.529; p=0.008 for the highest quartile vs the lowest quartile) and TAT (OR, 3.568; 95% CI, 1.625 to 7.833; p=0.002 for the highest quartile vs the lowest quartile) were independent risk factors together with hypertension (OR, 2.512; 95% CI, 1.381 to 4.569; p=0.003), diabetes mellitus (OR, 2.942; 95% CI, 1.061 to 8.158; p=0.038), hepatitis B virus positivity (OR, 3.548; 95% CI, 1.295 to 9.716; p=0.014), and a higher level of total cholesterol (OR, 2.232; 95% CI, 1.043 to 4.778; p=0.039 for or =240 mg/dL). Body mass index and waist circumference were not meaningful variables. CONCLUSIONS: Visceral obesity measured by VAT and TAT was associated with GBP irrespective of body mass index or waist circumference.

Primary Mucosa-associated Lymphoid Tissue Lymphoma of the Esophagus, Manifesting as a Submucosal Tumor / 대한소화기학회지

We report a case of primary mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma in the esophagus that manifested as a large submucosal tumor (SMT). Primary esophageal lymphoma is very rare, occurring in less than 1% of all patients with gastrointestinal lymphoma. Only a few cases of MALT lymphoma in the esophagus have been reported in the English literature. A 53-year-old man was referred to Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital (Goyang, Korea) in July 2012 for further evaluation and treatment of an esophageal SMT. Endoscopy showed a cylindrically elongated submucosal mass with normal overlying mucosa in the mid esophagus, 25-30 cm from the incisor teeth. He underwent surgery to confirm the diagnosis. Pathologic findings showed diffuse small atypical lymphoid cells which were stained with Bcl-2, CD20, but not with CD3, CD5, CD23, Bcl-6, or cyclin D1. These cells showed a positive monoclonal band for immunoglobulin heavy chain gene rearrangement. Based on the pathological, immunohistochemical, and molecular biological features, the esophageal mass was diagnosed as extranodal marginal zone B-cell lymphoma of the MALT type.

A case of concomitant epstein-barr virus-induced hepatitis on chronic autoimmune hepatitis / 대한내과학회지

Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), a rare cause of chronic liver disease in Korea, is a chronic, predominantly periportal hepatitis characterized by hypergammaglobulinemia, tissue autoantibodies, and responsiveness to immunosuppressive therapy. Here we report a rare case of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) hepatitis in the presence of a previous diagnosis of AIH. A 25-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital with fever and myalgias. Laboratory data showed elevated aminotransferases, hypergammaglobulinemia, increased anti-nuclear antibody (ANA) titer, positive anti-smooth muscle antibody (ASMA) test, negative anti-mitochondrial antibody (AMA) test, and negative antibody against liver kidney microsome-1 (anti-LKM-1) test. Serologic viral markers of EBV indicated a recent EBV infection. Liver biopsy was performed to search for evidence of accompanying autoimmune liver disease. Liver biopsy findings were consistent with chronic active hepatitis. In-situ hybridization performed on the liver tissue confirmed the presence of EBV DNA. The patient has been treated with prednisolone and has shown subsequent improvement in clinical symptoms and liver function tests.

A Case of Patient with Coincident Lung Cancer and Rheumatoid Arthritis Treated with Docetaxel-Cisplatin Chemotherapy / 대한류마티스학회지

A 54-year-old male was admitted due to lung cancer and polyarthralgia involving wrist, hand, shoulder, and ankle joints. Five months ago, he had been diagnosed as adenocarcinoma of the lung, and treated with three cycles of chemotherapy using gemcitabine and cisplatin. In the course of chemotherapy, he had complained symmetrical polyarthralgia of hand and shoulder joints, resembling rheumatoid arthritis (RA). After treatment with chemotherapeutic agents, he still had severe polyarthritis refractory to anti-rheumatic drugs, including prednisolone, hydroxychloroquine, and methotrexate, and thus referred to our hospital. We changed the previous anti-cancer regimens to cisplatin plus docetaxel, a semisyntheic taxane molecule, which is known to suppress experimental polyarthritis. With additional three cycles of cisplatin plus docetaxel, RA disease activity as well as polyarthralgia was nearly completely resolved, and the extent of lung cancer was not aggravated. Although RA patients have an increased risk of malignancy, the outbreak of RA was very rare in lung cancer patients. Here we report a case of coincident lung cancer and rheumatoid arthritis, which was successfully treated by docetaxel plus cisplatin chemotherapy.