Sparganosis of the Unilateral Breast: A Case Report

Sparganosis is a parasitic infection caused by the sparganum, the plercercoid of the genus Spirometra. The preoperative diagnosis of breast sparganosis is difficult in most cases because it is a rare parasitic infection less than 2% of all cases. We report a 62-year-old woman case of breast sparganosis that were confirmed by surgical removal of worms from the right breast. The radiologic images of the patient also revealed characteristic features of breast sparganosis. The patient described the migrating palpable breast mass, which strongly suggested the possibility of breast sparganosis. The treatment of choice and confirmative diagnosis for sparganosis are complete surgical extraction of the sparganum irrespective of infected site. Inspection of the mass site with detailed medical history and radiological examinations are important for preoperative diagnosis of sparganosis patients.

Improved Model for Predicting Axillary Response to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Patients with Clinically Node-Positive Breast Cancer / 한국유방암학회지

PURPOSE: Pathological complete response (pCR) of axillary lymph node (LN) is frequently achieved in patients with clinically node-positive breast cancer after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). Treatment of the axilla after NAC is not well established and the value of sentinel LN biopsy following NAC remains unclear. This study investigated the predictive value of axillary response following NAC and evaluated the predictive value of a model based on axillary response. METHODS: Data prospectively collected on 201 patients with clinically node-positive breast cancer who were treated with NAC and underwent axillary LN dissection (ALND) were retrieved. A model predictive of axillary pCR was developed based on clinicopathologic variables. The overall predictive ability between models was compared by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. RESULTS: Of 201 patients who underwent ALND after NAC, 68 (33.8%) achieved axillary pCR. Multivariate analysis using axillary LN pCR after NAC as the dependent variable showed that higher histologic grade (p=0.031; odds ratio [OR], 2.537; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.087–5.925) and tumor response rate ≥47.1% (p=0.001; OR, 3.212; 95% CI, 1.584–6.515) were significantly associated with an increased probability of achieving axillary pCR. The area under the ROC curve for estimating axillary pCR was significantly higher in the model that included tumor response rate than in the model that excluded this rate (0.732 vs. 0.649, p=0.022). CONCLUSION: Tumor response rate was the most significant independent predictor of axillary pCR in response to NAC. The model that included tumor response rate was a significantly better predictor of axillary pCR than the model that excluded tumor response rate.

Antioxidant Effect of CoQ10 on N-nitrosodiethylamine-induced Oxidative Stress in Mice

The antioxidant effect of CoQ10 on N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA)-induced oxidative stress was investigated in mice. Food intake and body weight were similar in both CoQ10 and control groups during the 3-week experimental period. NDEA significantly increased the activities of typical marker enzymes of liver function (AST, ALT and ALP) both in control and CoQ10 groups. However, the increase of plasma aminotransferase activity was significantly reduced in the CoQ10 group. Lipid peroxidation in various tissues, such as heart, lung, liver, kidney, spleen and plasma, was significantly increased by NDEA, but this increase was significantly reduced by 100 mg/kg of CoQ10. Superoxide dismutase activity increased significantly upon NDEA-induced oxidative stress in both the control and CoQ10 groups with the effect being less in the CoQ10 group. Catalase activity decreased significantly in both the control and CoQ10 groups treated with NDEA, again with the effect being less in the CoQ10 group. The lesser effect on superoxide dismutase and catalase in the NDEA-treated CoQ10 group is indicative of the protective effect CoQ10. Thus, CoQ10 can offer useful protection against NDEA-induced oxidative stress.

The Effect of Caffeic Acid on Wound Healing in Skin-incised Mice

This study was carried out to investigate the wound healing effect of caffeic acid in skin-incised mice. Caffeic acid showed significant effects on anti-inflammatory activity and wound healing, such as myeloperoxidase activity, lipid peroxidation, phospholipase A2 activity and collagen-like polymer synthesis, in incised-wound tissue. On the other hand, it significantly stimulated collagen-like polymer synthesis in NIH 3T3 fibroblast cells, while inhibited both silica-induced reactive oxygen species generation and melittin-induced arachidonic acid release and PGE2 production in Raw 264.7 cells, and histamine release in RBL 2H3 cells stimulated by melittin or arachidonic acid. Therefore, caffeic acid appears to have a potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effect in cell culture system, which may be related to wound healing in skin-incised mice.

Infant with Fanconi Anemia Presenting with Myelodysplastic Syndrome / 대한소아혈액종양학회지

PURPOSE: Fanconi anemia(FA) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by progressive bone marrow failure and congenital malformations. Patients with FA have aplastic anemia(> 90%), leukemia(10~15%), myelodysplasia(5%) and liver(5%) and other tumors(5%). In the International FA Registry study myelodysplasia in FA patients was detected at a median of 13 years. Presentation of FA with myelodysplasia in an infant should be extremely rare. CASE: A 3-month-old infant presented with anemia and poor feeding. The initial hemogram showed: hemoglobin, 4.6 g/dL; MCV, 104.1 fL/pg; white cell count, 4,300/microL; neutrophils, 450/microL; platelets, 23,000/microL. The bone marrow was normocellular, with findings of macrocytic anemia and dyserythropoiesis, and less than 5% of myeloid blasts, compatible with myelodysplastic syndrome(refractory anemia). The patient had multiple cafe-au-lait spots, hypopigmented nevi, broad nasal bridge, micrognathia, and thumb and toe anomalies. FA was confirmed by chromosomal hypersensitivity to diepoxybutane and mitomicin C. Supportive treatment with oxymetholone and prednisolone failed to improve hematologic and clinical findings. The patient succumbed to sepsis, pneumonia and meningitis due to Pseudomonas aeruginosa at 20 month of age. Clonal cytogenetic anomalies were not found. CONCLUSION: We reported here a rare case of FA presenting with myelodysplasia at the age of 3 month.