Prognostic Value of Neutrophilto-Lymphocyte Ratio and Early Standardized Uptake Value Reduction in Patients With Breast Cancer Receiving Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy / 한국유방암학회지

Purpose@#We investigated the treatment response and prognosis using the neutrophil-tolymphocyte ratio (NLR) and standardized uptake value (SUV) of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography ( 18F-FDG PET) in neoadjuvant settings. @*Methods@#Baseline NLR and maximum SUV (SUVmax ) were retrospectively analyzed in 273 females with breast cancer who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by surgery.Of these, 101 patients underwent 18F-FDG PET after 3–4 neoadjuvant chemotherapy cycles, which allowed the measurement of ΔSUVmax , an early reduction in SUVmax . NLR and early SUVmax reduction (ΔSUVmax) were classified as low and high, respectively, relative to the median values. @*Results@#The mean NLR was lower, and the mean ΔSUVmax was higher in patients with pathologic complete response (pCR) than in those with residual tumors. The ΔSUVmax was an independent variable associated with pCR. Furthermore, the high NLR group had poor recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival. Among patients with ΔSUVmax data, high NLR (adjusted hazard ratio, 2.82; 95% confidence intervals [CI], 1.26–6.28; P = 0.016) and low ΔSUVmax (adjusted hazard ratio, 2.39; 95% CI, 1.07–5.34; P = 0.037) were independent prognostic factors for poor RFS. The categorization of the patients into four groups according to the combination of NLR and ΔSUVmax showed that patients with high NLR and low ΔSUVmax had significantly poorer RFS. @*Conclusion@#Baseline NLR and ΔSUVmax were significantly associated with the prognosis of patients with breast cancer who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy. These results suggest that metabolic non-responders with defective immune systems have worse survival outcomes.

Laparoscopic and Robotic Surgeries for Patients With Colorectal Cancer Who Have Had a Previous Abdominal Surgery

PURPOSE: The impact of previous abdominal surgery (PAS) on surgical outcomes from laparoscopic and robot surgeries is inconclusive. This study aimed to investigate the impact of PAS on perioperative outcomes from laparoscopic and robotic colorectal surgeries. METHODS: From March 2007 to February 2014, a total of 612 and 238 patients underwent laparoscopic and robotic surgeries, respectively. Patients were divided into 3 groups: those who did not have a PAS (NPAS), those who had a major PAS, and those who had a minor PAS. We further divided the patients so that our final groups for analysis were: patients with NPAS (n = 478), major PAS (n = 19), and minor PAS (n = 115) in the laparoscopy group, and patients with NPAS (n = 202) and minor PAS (n = 36) in the robotic surgery group. RESULTS: In the laparoscopy group, no differences in the conversion rates between the 3 groups were noted (NPAS = 1.0% vs. major PAS = 0% vs. minor PAS = 1.7%, P = 0.701). In the robotic surgery group, the conversion rate did not differ between the NPAS group and the minor PAS group (1.0% vs. 2.8%, P = 0.390). Among the groups, neither the operation time, blood loss, days to soft diet, length of hospital stay, nor complication rate were affected by PAS. CONCLUSION: PAS did not jeopardize the perioperative outcomes for either laparoscopic or robotic colorectal surgeries. Therefore, PAS should not be regarded as an absolute contraindication for minimally invasive colorectal surgeries.

A Inflammed Plantar Epidermal Cyst Misdiagnosed as Secondary Infection of Calluses / 대한피부과학회지

No abstract available.

Drug rash with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms syndrome following cholestatic hepatitis A: a case report / 대한간학회지

Hepatitis A virus (HAV) infections occur predominantly in children, and are usually self-limiting. However, 75-95% of the infections in adults are symptomatic (mostly with jaundice), with the illness symptoms usually persisting for a few weeks. Atypical manifestations include relapsing hepatitis, prolonged cholestasis, and complications involving renal injury. Drug rash with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS) syndrome is a severe, drug-induced hypersensitivity reaction characterized by skin rash, fever, lymph-node enlargement, and internal organ involvement. We describe a 22-year-old male who presented with acute kidney injury and was diagnosed with prolonged cholestatic hepatitis A. The patient also developed DRESS syndrome due to antibiotic and/or antiviral treatment. To our knowledge, this is the first report of histopathologically confirmed DRESS syndrome due to antibiotic and/or antiviral treatment following HAV infection with cholestatic features and renal injury.

A Case of Acute Eosinophilic Pneumonia after Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / 결핵및호흡기질환

Pulmonary complications occur in 40~60% of patients who receive hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and are a source of substantial morbidity and mortality. Acute eosinophilic pneumonia (AEP) is an uncommon, non-infectious pulmonary complication occurring in HSCT recipients. We now report the case of a 52-year-old man with AEP who was treated with allogenic HSCT due to acute myeloid leukemia. He complained of fever, cough and dyspnea 390 days after allogenic HSCT. He also had skin and hepatic graft versus host disease (GVHD). Hypoxemia, diffuse pulmonary infiltrates on a chest x-ray and eosinophilia in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid were also noted in several tests. His symptoms, pulmonary infiltrates, hepatic dysfunction and skin lesions rapidly improved after treatment with corticosteroid therapy. Our case supports the idea that AEP is a late phase non-infectious pulmonary complication and one of the manifestations of chronic GVHD.

Suprapubic Bladder Aspiration Assisted by Ultrasound

PURPOSE: Suprapubic bladder aspiration(SBA) of urine is the most reliable method to obtain urine avoiding contamination in non-toilet trained infants. Ultrasonography is a useful tool for guiding the anatomic location as well as for direct visualization during procedure. We evaluated the success rate and complication of ultrasound(US) assisted SBA. METHODS: Sixty infants who visited Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital, with suspected urinary tract infection were randomly divided into the US assisted (n=32) and blind SBA(control, n=28) group. In US assisted SBA group, the anteroposterior(AP), transverse, and sagittal diameters and the volume of the bladder were measured. In the blind SBA group, urine was blindly aspirated when the urinary bladder was palpated at the suprapubic area. The rate of successful urine aspiration, the number of attempts until successful aspiration, aspirated urine volume were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: The success rate was 100%(32/32) in the US assisted group, which was significantly higher than 85.7%(24/28) of the control group (P3 cm, transverse diameter >4 cm, depth >4 cm and bladder volume >5 mL. CONCLUSION: US assistance can significantly improve the success rate of SBA in infant with suspected urinary tract infection.

A Case of Oligomeganephronia of the Solitary Kidney, Presented with Isolated Proteinuria

Oligomeganephronia is rare congenital anomaly characterized by striking reduction of the number of nephrons, which are markedly hypertrophied in renal hypoplasia. Since the first description of oligomeganephronia in bilateral renal hypoplasia in 1962, dozens of cases were reported. Van Acker reported the first case of oligomeganephronia developed in the solitary kidney and 8 cases were searched in the literature. We report a case of oligomeganephronia in the solitary kidney in 13 years old boy, presented with isolated proteinuria as a first case in Korea.

Clinical Significance of Mild Fetal Pelviectasia and The Role of Postnatal Voiding Cystourethrography

PURPOSE: To evaluate the clinical significance of antenatally detected mild fetal pelviectasia and the role of voiding cystourethrography (VCUG). METHODS: From January 1999 to September 1999, 28 neonates (44 pelviectatic kidneys) with mild fetal pelviectasia (anteroposterial diameter <10 mm) were evaluated by postnatal renal sonography and voiding cystourethrography. RESULTS: Among 44 mild pelviectatic kidneys, 29 (65.9%) kidneys had no pelviectasia and 15 (34.1%) kidneys had persistent mild pelviectasia on postnatal renal sonography. Four (9.1%) kidneys of 3 males (10.7%) without pelviectasia on postnatal renal sonography had vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) on voiding cystourethrography. Vesicoureteral reflux was not correlated with prenatal progression or regression of pelviectasia and was not correlated with postnatal pelviectasia. CONCLUSION: All neonate with mild fetal pelviectasia need to undergo voiding cystoure- thrography for early diagnosis of vesicoureteral reflux even though postnatal renal sonography shows no pelviectasia.