A case of ectopic parathyroid carcinoma presenting with renal failure and anemia / 대한내과학회지

Parathyroid carcinoma is an uncommon cause of PTH-related hypercalcemia with a reported incidence of 0.4% to 5% of all cases of primary hyperparathyroidism. Even though the clinical manifestations of hyperparathyroidism are more severe in patients with parathyroid carcinoma than in those with parathyroid adenoma, it is difficult to differentiate carcinoma from adenoma preoperatively. Parathyroid carcinomas are usually larger and firmer than parathyroid adenomas and patients with parathyroid carcinoma have a higher incidence of renal dysfunction, bone disease and gastrointestinal symptoms. Anemia is an uncommon clinical feature of parathyroid carcinoma. There have been no prior cases of ectopic parathyroid carcinomas reported to date. In this article, we report the case of a 26-year-old man who developed severe anemia and acute renal failure due to an ectopic parathyroid tumor and was diagnosed with parathyroid carcinoma postoperatively. His serum calcium levels returned to normal and the anemia resolved postoperatively.

A case of Hashimoto's thyroiditis with chronic lymphocytic leukemia / 대한내과학회지

Hashimoto's thyroiditis is an autoimmune thyroid disease characterized by a gradual enlargement of the thyroid gland, extensive lymphocytic infiltration and fibrosis of thyroid follicles. Hashimoto's thyroiditis occurs frequently in conjunction with a wide range of organ-specific and systemic autoimmune diseases. The association of chronic lymphocytic leukemia with other autoimmune diseases also has been recognized. Here, we report a case of chronic lymphocytic leukemia diagnosed by abrupt painful swelling of the thyroid gland in a 69-year-old woman with Hashimoto's thyroiditis. The painful enlargement of goiter and elevated levels of antibodies to thyroglobulin were improved after chemotherapy with cyclophosphamide, vicristine and prednisolone.

A Case of Behcet's Disease with Thin Glomerular Basement Membrane Disease / 대한류마티스학회지

Behcet's Disease (BD) is a chronic inflammatory disorder characterized by vasculitis of unknown cause, involving multiple organs. In the past years, renal involvement has not been regarded as a feature of BD. However, renal lesions in BD, although uncommon, have increasingly been recognized in recent years. Five categories of renal lesions associated with BD have been identified, including glomerulonephritis, amyloidosis, renal vascular involvement, interstitial nephritis, and other problems, such as complications of drug therapy or abnormalities of the genitourinary tract. On the other hand, regional differences in the disease expression of BD are well appreciated. Renal lesions accompanied by BD have rarely been reported in Korea, although it have been described occasionally in the Middle Eastern countries. Hereby, we described a 46-year-old female patient who had BD with persistent hematuria and proteinuria, whose renal biopsy specimens were consistent with thin glomerular basement membrane disease. Interestingly, some portions of her glomerular capillary walls were filled with fuchsinophilic fibrin-like materials.