Cytopathologic Features of Secretory Carcinoma of Salivary Gland: Report of Two Cases

Secretory carcinoma of the salivary gland (SC) is a newly introduced rare salivary gland tumor that shares histological, immunohistochemical, and genetic characteristics with secretory carcinoma of the breast. Here, we report the cytologic features of two cases of SC confirmed by surgical resection. In these two cases, SC was incidentally detected in a 64-year-old female and a 56-yearold male. Fine needle aspiration cytology revealed nests of tumor cells with a papillary or glandular structure floating in mucinous secretions. The tumor cells demonstrated uniform, round, smooth nuclear contours and distinct nucleoli. Multiple characteristic cytoplasmic vacuoles were revealed. Singly scattered tumor cells frequently showed variable sized cytoplasmic vacuoles. The cytopathologic diagnosis of SC should be considered when characteristic cytological findings are revealed. Further immunohistochemistry and gene analyses are helpful to diagnose SC.

Significance of Intratumoral Fibrosis in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma

BACKGROUND: Intratumoral fibrosis (ITF) is a frequent histologic finding in solid organ tumors. Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a highly vascularized tumor with different shapes and degrees of ITF and inflammation. ITF is a poor prognostic factor, especially in breast cancer, and is related to intratumoral necrosis (ITN) and intratumoral inflammation (ITI). However, the significance of ITF in RCC has not been fully studied. In this study, we evaluate the relationships between ITF and other clinicopathologic parameters associated with RCC prognosis. METHODS: ITF was evaluated in 204 clear cell renal cell carcinoma (CCRCC) specimens according to presence and grade of fibrosis, degree of ITI, and presence of ITN. Lysyl oxidase (LOX) expression in tumor cells was also evaluated with clinicopathologic parameters. RESULTS: Among 204 CCRCC cases, 167 (81.7%) showed ITF, 71 (34.8%) showed ITI, 35 (17.2%) showed ITN, and 111 (54.4%) showed LOX expression. ITF correlated with Fuhrman nuclear grade (p = .046), lymphovascular invasion (LVI) (p = .027), and ITN (p = .036). Patients with ITF had a poor five-year overall survival rate (p = .104). CONCLUSIONS: ITF is related to other poor prognostic factors in CCRCC, such as Fuhrman nuclear grade, ITN, and LVI, but ITF itself had no significant correlation with prognosis of CCRCC.

Changes in Implant Thickness after Rhinoplasty Using Surgiform

BACKGROUND: Gore-Tex implants started out as a product with the distinct advantage of producing a natural nose shape, but using Gore-Tex, it is difficult to predict the height of the nose after rhinoplasty because Gore-Tex contracts over time, making the nose shrink. However, Surgiform, a new form of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) implant, enables prediction of the height of the nose after rhinoplasty because the implant does not change in thickness even after many years. Thus, we investigated whether changes in implant thickness occurred after rhinoplasty using Surgiform implants. METHODS: This study enrolled 12 patients who had Surgiform nasal implants removed for any reason after receiving rhinoplasty in 2007 or later. After the Surgiform implants were removed, we measured the thickness of the central part of the implants using calipers. RESULTS: At the time of the initial operation, the mean implant thickness was 4.48±0.30 mm at the supra-tip. At the time of implant removal, the mean thickness was 4.32±0.29 mm. The implants maintained 96.5% of their initial thickness. There was a negligible reduction in the Surgiform implants' thickness over time. CONCLUSIONS: Surgiform implants maintained their shape after rhinoplasty, making it possible to predict the height of the nose. Thus, Surgiform is more useful for nasal implants than other ePTFE implants.

The Efficacy of a Q-Switched 694-nm Ruby Fractional Laser for Treating Acquired Bilateral Nevus of Ota-Like Macules

BACKGROUND: Acquired bilateral nevus of Ota-like macules (ABNOM) are a common form of hyperpigmentation in Asian populations, characterized by brownish-blue or slate-gray pigmentation in the bilateral malar regions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and complications of a Q-switched (QS) fractional ruby laser in the treatment of ABNOM. METHODS: Forty-four patients with ABNOM treated with a QS fractional ruby laser from January 2014 to February 2016 were enrolled in this study. Patients received up to 10 treatment sessions, at intervals ranging from 3 to 4 weeks. An automatic skin diagnosis system was used before and after laser treatment to evaluate the efficacy of the laser treatment. To evaluate the complications of the laser treatment, a retrospective chart review was conducted. RESULTS: Forty-one patients were female, and 3 were male. The mean age of the patients was 47.2 years, and the mean follow-up period was 14 months. The median skin pigmentation score was 5 (interquartile range [IQR], 5–6) before laser treatment and 3 (IQR, 3–4) after laser treatment. A statistically significant difference (P < 0.01) was found in the skin pigmentation score before and after laser treatment. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that, although multiple sessions are required, QS ruby fractional lasers can be considered an effective and less invasive form of treatment of ABNOM.

A Rare Case of Intramural Müllerian Adenosarcoma Arising from Adenomyosis of the Uterus

Müllerian adenosarcomas usually arise as polypoid masses in the endometrium of post-menopausal women. Occasionally, these tumors arise in the cervix, vagina, broad and round ligaments, ovaries and rarely in extragenital sites; these cases are generally associated with endometriosis. We experienced a rare case of extraendometrial, intramural adenosarcoma arising in a patient with adenomyosis. A 40-year-old woman presented with sudden-onset suprapubic pain. The imaging findings suggested leiomyoma with cystic degeneration in the uterine fundus. An ill-defined ovoid tumor with hemorrhagic degeneration, measuring 7.5 cm in diameter, was detected. The microscopic findings showed glandular cells without atypia and a sarcomatous component with pleomorphism and high mitotic rates. There was no evidence of endometrial origin. To recognize that adenosarcoma can, although rarely, arise from adenomyosis is important to avoid overstaging and inappropriate treatment.

Transesophageal imaging of a left main coronary artery ostium occlusion in infective endocarditis: a case report / 대한마취과학회지

A 43-year-old woman was admitted due to fever, chills, and headache for several days and was diagnosed as infective endocarditis. Intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) examination confirmed severe aortic stenosis and showed relatively fresh 1.5 cm vegetation on the left coronary cusp of the aortic valve (AV) with frequent diastolic prolapse into the aortic root. This mobile vegetation partially occluded left coronary ostium, but it did not cause cardiac failure. TEE showed the vegetation to be in good position across the AV. The AV replacement with removal of vegetation and mitral valvuloplasty were performed. The patient was weaned from cardiopulmonary bypass without any hemodynamic instability or changes in ST segment on electrocardiography. She was discharged on the 28th postoperative day without any complication.

Clinical Utility of Plasma Glypican-3 and Osteopontin as Biomarkers of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

BACKGROUND/AIMS: alpha-Fetoprotein (AFP) is the biomarker most widely used to detect hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), despite its suboptimal diagnostic accuracy. Glypican-3 (GPC3) and osteopontin (OPN) are secreted glycoproteins that are reportedly associated with tumorigenesis and metastasis. This study was conducted to evaluate the clinical utility of using plasma GPC3 and OPN as diagnostic biomarkers for HCC. METHODS: We measured the plasma levels of GPC3 and OPN in 120 HCC and 40 chronic liver disease (CLD) patients via an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The diagnostic accuracy of each tumor marker was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. RESULTS: The GPC3 levels in the HCC patients (75.8 ng/mL) were significantly higher (p=0.020) than the levels in patients with CLD (66.4 ng/mL). The area under the ROC curve (AUROC) values for GPC3 and OPN were 0.62 and 0.51, respectively. In subgroup analyses, including subgroups of HCC patients with low serum AFP and PIVKA II levels, the AUROC of GPC3 remained relatively high (0.66), and GPC3 showed a high sensitivity (62.1%) for detecting small HCC tumors. CONCLUSIONS: The plasma levels of GPC3 and OPN demonstrated low diagnostic accuracy for HCC. However, GPC3 may have a complementary role in diagnosing HCC in patients with nondiagnostic levels of conventional tumor markers and with small-sized tumors.

Ancient Schwannoma Misdiagnosed as a Hemangioma in the Ventral Tongue

Gardner Syndrome Showing Multiple Osteomas in the Jaws

Primary Intraosseous Squamous Cell Carcinoma Arising from Odontogenic Cyst: A Case Report

Severe ischemic bowel necrosis caused by terlipressin during treatment of hepatorenal syndrome

Terlipressin is a vasopressin analogue that is widely used in the treatment of hepatorenal syndrome or variceal bleeding. Because it acts mainly on splanchnic vessels, terlipressin has a lower incidence of severe ischemic complications than does vasopressin. However, it can still lead to serious complications such as myocardial infarction, skin necrosis, or bowel ischemia. Herein we report a case of severe ischemic bowel necrosis in a 46-year-old cirrhotic patient treated with terlipressin. Although the patient received bowel resection, death occurred due to ongoing hypotension and metabolic acidosis. Attention should be paid to patients complaining of abdominal pain during treatment with terlipressin.

Breast Carcinoma with Choriocarcinomatous Features: A Case Report / 한국유방암학회지

Nongestational choriocarcinoma differentiation is extremely rare in breast neoplasms. It is characterized by tumor cells similar to chorionic trophoblastic cells, which react with human placental lactogen and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). A 56-year-old woman presented with a palpable right breast mass without past history of trophoblastic tumors. An F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) scan revealed one focus with low accumulation of FDG in the right breast (maximum standardized uptake value, 1.98). The patient underwent a right mastectomy and biopsy of sentinel nodes. Microscopically, the tumor was a typical invasive ductal carcinoma with multiple foci of choriocarcinoma features. Immunohistochemistry showed that the tumor cells resembling choriocarcinoma were positive for hCG antibody, but negative for HER2/neu, estrogen receptor, and progesterone receptor. A pathologic diagnosis of breast carcinoma with choriocarcinomatous features was made. To our knowledge, this is the first report of invasive carcinoma with choriocarcinomatous features and an unusual finding of low accumulation in an F-18 FDG PET/CT scan in Korea.

Foreign Body Removal at Right Main Bronchus in A Neonate / 대한구급학회지

Foreign body in the airway could be a life-threatening risk, especially for young pediatric patients. A 6-day old male patient with foreign body, which was located deep in the right main bronchus was being admitted. Although we tried three times to remove it with rigid bronchoscopic forceps under the general anesthesia, we failed. Before switching to surgical treatment, we changed the Trendelenburg position and tapped his back several times in order to alter the foreign body toward the forcep. Finally we were able to catch and extract the foreign body successfully. We suggest that back percussion with the Trendelenburg position is a useful solution to remove a foreign body within a deep airway.

A case of necrotizing pancreatitis subsequent to transcatheter arterial chemoembolization in a patient with hepatocellular carcinoma

Necrotizing pancreatitis is one of the rare complications of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE). Necrotizing pancreatitis after TACE may result from the development of ischemia caused by regurgitation of embolic materials into the vessels supplying the pancreas. We report a case of post-TACE necrotizing pancreatitis with abscess formation in a patient with hepatocellular carcinoma. The patient had suffered hepatic artery injury due to repetitive TACE; during his 25th TACE procedure he had submitted to selective catheterization of the feeding vessel from the dorsal pancreatic artery with a cytotoxic agent and Gelfoam particles. The patient complained of abdominal pain after the TACE procedure, and a CT scan led to a diagnosis of necrotizing pancreatitis with abscess formation. The pancreatic abscess progressed despite general management of the pancreatitis, including antibiotics. Percutaneous catheter drainage was performed, and the symptoms of the patient improved.

DPC4 Expression in the Small Intestinal Adenocarcinomas

BACKGROUND: Small intestinal adenocarcinomas (SACs) are rare malignancies of the alimentary tract with uncertain carcinogenesis. METHODS: We investigated the expression of deleted in pancreatic cancer 4 (DPC4) in 188 cases of surgically resected SACs, using tissue microarray technology. RESULTS: Twenty-four of the 188 tumors showed complete loss of Smad4/DPC4 expression in cytoplasm (score, 0; 12.8%). Eighty-four and 31 cases were moderately and strongly positive, respectively (score, 2 and 3; 44.7% and 16.5%, respectively) and 49 cases were focally or weakly stained (score, 1; 29.1%). Immunohistochemistry analysis showed that the expression of Smad4/DPC4 was related to an increased risk of lymphatic invasion but not to other clinicopathological features of the tumors (tumor location, differentiation, growth pattern, T stage, direct invasion, vascular invasion, and nodal metastasis). There was no significant association between Smad4/DPC4 expression and patient survival. CONCLUSIONS: The present research is the first study to evaluate Smad4/DPC4 expression in a large sample of SACs with clinicopathologic correlation. Future studies should focus on the immunohistochemical and molecular characteristics of SACs to clarify their tumorigenesis.

Granular Cell Tumor of Thyroid Gland That Was Concomitant with Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma: A Case Report / 대한내분비외과학회지

Granular cell tumor (GCT) of the thyroid is rare and histogenesis of the carcinoma still remains poorly understood. Here in this study, we report a case of perithyroidal granular cell tumor in a 44-year-old woman, diagnosed as medullary carcinoma upon the interoperative frozen diagnosis. The tumor was comprised of white, solid mass with infiltrating margin in isthmus. Microscopically, the tumor revealed abundant eosinophilic cytoplasm, elongated nucleus and eosinophilic amyloid-like materials. It was composed of diffuse sheets of polygonal cells with abundant eosinophilic cytoplasm and cytologically bland nucleus on permanent section. On immunohistochemical staining, S-100 and CD68 are diffusely positive. Determining the progression and the behavior of the tumor is critical for providing long-term management and preventing aggressive treatment.

Is Comprehensive Neck Dissection a Sole Choice for the Treatment of Recurrent Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma in the Lateral Neck? / 대한이비인후과학회지

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Therapeutic comprehensive neck dissection has been recommended for the patients with recurrent papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) confined to the neck after initial total thyroidectomy. However, the benefit of comprehensive neck dissection to remove asymptomatic metastatic lymph node towards improving clinical recurrences or survival is largely unproven. We analyzed the pattern of recurrence in the lateral compartment of neck and evaluated the possible application of limited lymph node dissection against comprehensive neck dissection. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: A retrospective review was carried out for 43 patients who underwent surgical treatment for recurrent PTC in the lateral neck from 2000 to 2005, and their clinicopathological results were stratified according to the extent of surgery into two groups, the limited surgery group and the comprehensive surgery group. RESULTS: Recurrence rate in lateral neck after initial total thyroidectomy was 14.5% (43/296), and the most common level of recurrence was level IV (50.9%). Although limited surgery group showed a tendency toward more frequent recurrence after treatment of the first recurrence than did the comprehensive surgery group, this tendency had no statistical significance. Moreover, no patients in either group have died of PTC during over a mean follow-up period of 80 months. In the aspect of factors associated with surgical morbidity, such as operating time, duration of admission, and complication, the limited surgery group had superior results when compared to the comprehensive group. CONCLUSION: The benefit of comprehensive neck dissection concerning recurrence and survival was not verified in the present study hence a more preservative approach could be applied to selective patients with recurrent PTC in the lateral compartment of neck.

Changing pattern of microorganisms and antibiotic resistance rate of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis: A 12-year experience / 대한내과학회지

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Recently, the prognosis for spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) has improved; however, the causative microorganisms and antibiotic resistance rates are changing. We evaluated the changing pattern of causative agents and antibiotic resistance rates of SBP over a 12-year period. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 113 patients who were diagnosed with SBP and in whom ascites cultures were positive between 1996 and 2007. The 12-year period was subdivided into 6-year terms (period A, 1996~2001; and period B, 2002~2007). RESULTS: One hundred thirteen of 410 cases of SPB had positive ascites cultures. Thirty-seven cases were from period A and 76 cases were from period B. Hospital-acquired SBP was more common during period B. Gram negative microorganisms were isolated from 78% of SBP cases, and the most common microorganism was E.coli (60%). The resistance rates for ampicillin and ciprofloxacin were similar between the two periods, but resistance to cefotaxime was more frequent in period B (3% vs. 26%, p=0.002), and ESBL-producing E.coli was only cultured in period B (0% vs. 32%, p=0.002). Most of the initial antibiotics used were cefotaxime; carbapenem was used as a secondary antibiotic only in period B (0% vs. 55%, p=0.007). ESBL-producing microorganisms were the only predictor of in-hospital mortality based multivariate analysis (OR: 4.14, 95% CI: 1.09-15.07, p=0.037). CONCLUSIONS: No change in pattern of microorganisms in the ascites of patients with SBP was noted during the 12-year period under study, but there was a significant increase in the incidence of hospital-acquired SBP, resistance to cefotaxime, and ESBL-producing E.coli when comparing the outcomes of periods A and B. ESBL-producing microorganisms were the only predictor of in-hospital mortality.

A Case of Imported Dengue Fever with Acute Hepatitis / 대한간학회지

Dengue fever is an acute febrile disease caused by the dengue virus, which belongs to the flaviviridae family, and this virus is transmitted by the bite of the mosquito Aedes aegypti. It occurs in the tropical climates of the South Pacific, Southeast Asia, India, Africa and the subtropical zone of America. Imported cases of Dengue fever and Dengue hemorrhagic fever are rapidly increasing as many Koreans are now traveling abroad. Liver injury is usually detected by laboratory investigation according to a surveillance protocol. Although liver injury by dengue virus has been described in Asia and the Pacific islands, the pathogenic mechanisms are not yet fully clarified. It is usually expressed in a self-limiting pattern and the patient has a complete recovery. We report here on a case of a young woman who presented with general weakness, nausea and significant elevation of the aminotransferase levels, and she was diagnosed with dengue fever.

Intestinal Tuberculosis with a Duodenal Fistula / 대한소화기내시경학회지

Intestinal tuberculosis is a common disease of extrapulmonary tuberculosis. A diagnosis of intestinal tuberculosis is difficult as the symptoms and laboratory findings are not specific for the disease. Intestinal tuberculosis may cause various complications, such as intestinal obstruction, intestinal perforation, intraabdominal abscess, intestinal hemorrhage and fistula formation. A duodenal fistula caused by tuberculosis is an especially rare condition. We experienced a case of intestinal tuberculosis with a duodenal fistula as a complication. The patient was a 25-year-old man that presented with weight loss and diarrhea. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy showed a deep ulcerative lesion on the third portion of the duodenum with a fistula opening. A histological finding revealed granulomatous inflammation with multinucleated giant cells. In addition, the result of a Tb PCR assay was positive. After two months of treatment with the appropriate medication, the symptoms improved and the fistula has closed completely. We report the case with a review of the literature.