A Case of Single Mass Forming Hepatic Tuberculoma / 계명의대학술지

Tuberculosis mainly develops in the lung, but may also rarely invade other parts of the abdominal region. Abdominal tuberculosis is associated with pulmonary tuberculosis in approximately 15% of cases, and abdominal tuberculosis primarily develops in the terminal ileum and lymphatic gland. Moreover, hepatic tuberculosis is uncommon and is usually accompanied with active pulmonary or miliary tuberculosis. Hence, the development of primary hepatic tuberculoma as a single liver mass is very unusual. In the present report, we describe the case of a 63-year-old man with a solitary hepatic tuberculoma; the 6.4 cm mass was incidentally detected during abdominal computed tomography in the asymptomatic patient, and the diagnosis was confirmed by liver biopsy through ultrasonography-guided fine-needle aspiration.

An Elderly Female Non-smoker with Primary Small Cell Carcinoma of the Urinary Bladder / 계명의대학술지

Small cell carcinoma (SCC) primarily arises in the lung. Cases of primary extrapulmonary small cell carcinoma are uncommon, and may develop in various different organs. In particular, small cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder is very rare in female nonsmokers, and its prognosis is poor. The main part of treatment in SCC is a chemotherapy, which is a critical factor in its prognosis. In the present report, we describe the case of an 82-year-old female non-smoker who underwent transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT) without chemotherapy for small-cell carcinoma of the bladder, and experienced a relapse at a same area to the primary tumor site.

True Aneurysm of the Superficial Temporal Artery

This is a case report of a 50-year-old female who presented to our clinic with headache and left temporal pulsatile mass. Aneurysm was revealed incidentally on a computed tomography angiography of her head. Open surgical resection with aneurysmal trapping was performed under local anesthesia. Histological examination demonstrated a true aneurysm of the superficial temporal artery. There was loss of normal elastin in the internal elastin layer. This case report describes the rare entity along with a review of the literature.

Simultaneous Pancreatic Serous Microcystic Adenoma and Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Tumor of the Pancreas: A Case Report

Serous cystadenomas of the pancreas account for approximately a third of pancreatic cystic neoplasms. Their coexistence with a second tumor is extremely rare. We now report a case of a serous microcystic adenoma combined with an intraductal papillary mucinous tumor of the pancreas in a 69-year-old man. Abdominal computed tomography scans demonstrated an incidental cystic mass in the body with cystic dilatation of the duct in the head of the pancreas. Central pancreatectomy with pancreatico-jejunostomy, and cyst excision of the pancreatic head were performed. Histologic examination demonstrated a serous microcystic cystadenoma in the body coexisting with an intraductal papillary mucinous adenoma in the head of the pancreas. This case study highlights the importance of careful intra-operative and pathologic examination for synchronous pancreatic tumors.

Quality Control Program for Fresh Frozen Tissue and Its Results of Chonbuk National University Hospital National Biobank of Korea

BACKGROUND: Molecular tools for tissue profiling generally require collection of fresh frozen tissues (FFT) as sources of high-quality DNA and RNA. Nowadays, researchers carry out large-scale, multi-center studies and they request inter-institutional minimal intrinsic bias, some fundamental similarities, and the same standardized and validated procedures. METHODS: This study reports standardized quality control procedure for fresh frozen tissue of the National Biobank of Korea. RESULTS: The main procedures for quality control for FFT are as follows: records related to sample collection such as labeling of samples, transport temperature, lag time from excision of tissue to freezing, and sample size were reviewed for all fresh frozen samples. The stability of RNA and DNA in fresh frozen tissue was evaluated for 3% of collected samples and purity was assessed (ratio of the absorbance at 260 and 280 nm) as was integrity (agarose gel electrophoresis). Stained hematoxylin and eosin sections were reviewed by a pathologist to confirm the diagnosis and to assess how representative the frozen sample was. CONCLUSIONS: We introduced that the quality-control criteria for fresh frozen tissue of the NBK. We expect that this study contributes to standardization of collection, storage, and quality control of fresh frozen tissue.

Pedunculated subpleural lipoma with incomplete torsion: A case report / 대한내과학회지

Lipoma is a common benign neoplasm, but lipoma arising from the pleura is rare. Most pleural lipomas are asymptomatic and are discovered incidentally on chest radiographs. Here we report an unusual case of a pedunculated subpleural lipoma with incomplete torsion in a 29-year-old woman who presented with flank pain. On chest radiography, there was a well-defined, ellipsoidal, homogeneous, radioopaque mass in the left lower lobe. An intrathoracic tumor was suspected, and video-assisted thoracic surgery was performed to establish the final diagnosis. The resected tumor was a 10 X 5 cm sized pedunculated pleural mass. The cut surface showed a yellow, well-circumscribed mass with areas of hemorrhage. Histologically, the tumor was composed of mature adipose tissue with fibrous septae composed of fibroblasts. The outer surface of the tumor was covered by mesothelial cells. Some areas were hypercellular, and occasional mitoses were found, but neither lipoblasts nor atypical mitoses were identified.

Correlation of the Nuclear beta-catenin Expression with the Clinicopathological Parameters of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary malignant tumor of the human liver. However, the molecular changes and mechanisms that regulate the development and progression of HCC remain unclear. Beta-catenin is known as a multi-functional protein that acts as a regulator of the cadherin-mediated cell-cell adhesion system and also in the Wingless/Wnt signal transduction pathway. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of beta-catenin and its possible role in HCC. METHODS: We investigated the expression of beta-catenin, Ki-67, TP53, alpha-smooth muscle actin and CD34 by performing immunohistochemical staining for 61 specimens of HCC and their adjacent non-tumorous tissue. We also examined the relationship between the nuclear expression of beta-catenin and the clinicopathologic parameters. RESULTS: The altered expression of beta-catenin was not detected in the nontumorous liver tissue. The nuclear expression of beta-catenin was observed in approximately 16% (10/61) of the HCC specimens. Double immunohistochemical staining for beta-catenin and E-cadherin showed a close relationship between nuclear translocation of beta-catenin and the loss of the membranous E-cadherin expression. Significant correlation was found between the nuclear translocation of beta-catenin and the tumor size, tumor necrosis and the presence of microvessel invasion and intrahepatic metastasis (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This data indicates that nuclear translocation of beta-catenin could play a role in the growth and progression of HCC.