Treatment Outcome of the Brain Metastases in Peri-Rolandic Area: Comparison Between Surgery and Stereotactic Radiosurgery

Background@#Brain metastases of peri-Rolandic area is crucial as it directly impacts the quality of life for cancer patients. Surgery or stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is considered for peri-Rolandic brain metastases as for other brain metastases. However, the benefit of each treatment modality on functional outcome has not been clearly defined for this tumor. The purpose of this study is to compare the functional course of each treatment and to suggest an effective treatment for patients’ quality of life. @*Methods@#Fifty-two patients who had undergone SRS or surgery for brain metastasis confirmedby enhanced MRI were enrolled retrospectively. Overall survival (OS), progression free survival (PFS), and functional outcomes were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method, univariate, multivariate analysis, and Cox proportional hazards regression. @*Results@#Median OS and PFS were 13.3 months and 8.9 months in our study population.Treatment modalities were not significant factors for OS and PFS. Extracranial systemic cancer progression was significant factor for both parameters (p=0.030 for OS and p=0.040 for PFS). Median symptom improvement (improvement of at least 1 grade after surgery compared to preoperative state) time was significantly shorter in surgery group than in the SRS group (10.5 days vs. 37.5 days, p=0.034). @*Conclusion@#Surgery for brain metastases can contribute to a positive quality of life for the remain-ing duration of the patient’s life.

Decreased Bone Mineral density of Spine in Patients with Invasive Cervical Cancer / 대한골다공증학회지

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the spinal bone mineral density (BMD) in patients with invasive cervical cancer without bone metastases. METHODS: We measured spinal bone mineral densities by dual-photon absorptiometry in 119 patients with invasive uterine cervical cancer and compared them with measurements from 135 control women. RESULTS: When adjusted for age, mean bone mineral density in patients with uterine cervical cancer was 13.9% lower (P=0.0003) and age-matched percentiles were 9.2% lower (P=0.0003) than in control women. The deficits in bone mineral density and age-matched percentiles were confined to the uterine cervical cancer patients in their fifties. CONCLUSIONS: Our study results suggest that patients with invasive cervical cancer have a lower spinal BMD, resulting in an increased risk of osteoporosis.

To Investigate the Incidence of Non-responder to Hormone Therapy and the Bone Response in Postmenopausal Women / 대한골다공증학회지

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the incidence of non-responder to hormone therapy (HT) and to evaluate the bone response to HT according to basal bone mineral density(BMD) in postmenopausal women. METHODS: A total of 167 postmenopausal women received either continuous combined estrogenprogestogen replacement (n=102) or estrogen replacement (n=65) for 1 years. BMD at the lumbar spine and femoral neck was measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) before and 1 year after HT. RESULTS: The incidence of non-responder (women with >3% bone loss per year) to HT was 8.3% in the lumbar spine, and 22.1% in femoral neck. non-responder group had a higher basal BMD at the lumbar spine than responder group, and showed bone loss rate of 7.7% per year. After 1 year of HT, postmenopausal women with osteoporosis showed a higher rate of increase in BMD at the lumbar spine and femoral neck than women with normal BMD or osteopenia. CONCLUSIONS: The non-responders to HT have a higher basal lumbar BMD, compared with responders. The higher basal BMD at the lumbar spine is, the less bone conservation effect of HT is.

The First Isolation of Chlamydia pneumoniae from a Korean Patient / 결핵

BACKGROUND: Chlamydia pneumoniae is one of common causes in upper and lower respiratory infections. Isolating C. pneumoniae from clinical specimens is very difficult due to the characteristics of the organism. Recently, we succeeded in isolating C. pneumoniae from a Korean patient, who suffered from acute pharyngitis. This is the first isolate from a clinical specimen in Korea. METHOD: We attained a nasopharyngeal swab from a 22-year-old female patient, and inoculated it on a monolayer of the Hep-2 cell line. After 8 passages, we found the inclusion bodies of C. pneumoniae by an immunofluorescence(IF) test. The species-specific monoclonal antibody IF staining and species-specific PCR were done to confirm the species of the isolate, and electron microscopy was used to characterize the morphology. RESULT: The isolate was confirmed to be C. pneumoniae by species-specific IF and PCR, and the strain was named LKK-1. The shape of the elementary body was round and with a narrow periplasmic space, as shown by electron microscopy, which is similar to the Japanese strain, but not the Western strain. CONCLUSION: We succeeded in isolating C. pneumoniae from a 22-year-old patient with acute pharyngitis, which is the first isolate in Korea. In the future, this Korean strain will be useful to the study of C. pneumoniae.