Clinicopathological Characteristics of Colon Cancer Diagnosed at Primary Health Care Institutions

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinicopathologic characteristics of colon cancers detected at the SOK Sokpeynhan Internal Medical Network, a nationwide system of primary health care institutions. METHODS: We analyzed 579 colon cancer patients diagnosed using colonoscopy at the SOK network from January 2011 through December 2012. Cancers from the rectum to the splenic flexure were classified as left colon cancer. Patients over 65 were classified as senior. RESULTS: The mean age (+/-SD) of subjects was 60.9+/-10.5 years and 61.1% were men. More than one quarter (28.2%) of patients were asymptomatic. The prevalence of left colon cancer was higher (77.9%) than that for right colon cancer. The most frequent macroscopic and histologic types were depressed (58.9%) and moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma (52.2%), respectively. Asymptomatic subjects displayed protruding or well differentiated adenocarcinoma, while symptomatic patients were more likely to display depressed or moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma (P0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Study results indicated an increase of colon cancer amongst younger demographics in recent years. The effectiveness of colonoscopy screening was also evident, as asymptomatic patients demonstrated frequent findings of well differentiated adenocarcinomas. Study results also suggested a need for closer examination of older patients, as right colon cancer tended to increase with age.

Clinicopathologic Characteristics of Superficial Gastric Cancer Diagnosed at Primary Health Care Institutions in 2011 / 대한소화기학회지

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Stomach cancer is prevalent in Korea. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the characteristics of superficial gastric cancers detected at SOK Sokpeynhan Internal Medical Network, the nationwide primary health care institutions. METHODS: We prospectively analysed the clinicopathologic and endoscopic characteristics of 218 superficial gastric cancer patients diagnosed using gastric endoscopy at SOK network from January 2011 through December 2011. RESULTS: The mean age was 58.5 years old and male to female ratio was 1.7 : 1. Asymptomatic patients were most common (45.0%). The macroscopic classification revealed that simple types (63.8%) were more common than complex types (36.2%). The most common type was IIc (28.4%) and other types were as follows; IIb (16.1%), IIb+IIc (13.3%), IIa (10.6%), III (9.2%), IIa+IIc (7.3%), IIc+IIa (6.0%), IIc+IIb (5.0%). The most commonly involved sites were the body (53.1%) and greater curvature (32.6%) of the stomach. The size of lesion was less than 1 cm (69.3%) and less than 5 mm (33.5%) in diameter. The most common pathologic type was tubular adenocarcinoma (75.7%). Helicobacter pylori infection rate was 50.2%. Fifty five percent of the cases were diagnosed via endoscopy of National Health Insurance Corporation screenings. CONCLUSIONS: Superficial gastric cancers in 2011 at primary health care SOK network were different from those of previous reports. Type IIc was most common but type IIb was more prevalent and the body and greater curvature of the stomach were the most commonly involved sites. Therefore, careful observation of the proximal gastric mucosa and mucosal color change is needed.

Helicobacter pylori seropositivity among healthy persons in metro-Inchon / 대한내과학회지

H. pylori infection is now widely recognized as one of the causes of peptic ulcer, antral gastritis, and gastric cancer. Many data from cross-sectional seroprevalence studies have confirmed that H. pylori seropositivity varies between different area and race of the same country. The aim of this study is to evaluate the H. pylori seropositivity in 3,488 healthy subjects who reside in Metro-Inchon. METHODS: H. pylori IgG antibodies were assayed by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) in healthy Koreans who underwent health examination in Gil Hospital from January to September, 1997. Subjects who had past history of peptic ulcer and previous gastric or duodenal operation and used antibiotics in 1 month were excluded. We compared H. pylori seropositivity between sex, age group, and ABO blood group using Chi-square test and Mantel-Haenszel Chi-square test. RESULTS: 1) The overall seropositivity of H. pylori infection was 70.0%. 2) The seropositivity of H. pylori infection by age groups was 28.6% in 10-19, 63.3% in 20-29, 65.5% in 30-39, 70.7% in 40-49, 73.3% in 50-59, and 74.8% in over 60. 3) The seropositivity of H. pylori infection was 72.1% in male and 65.8% in female. 4) The seropositivity of H. pylori infection among ABO blood groups were 69.4% in A, 69.8% in B, 70.7% in O, and 70.1% in AB. CONCLUSION: The seropositivity of H. pylori infection in healthy persons living in Metro-Inchon was 70.0% and increased with age and was higher in male.

The Needle - Knife Sphincterotomy over Pancreatic Stent: A Safe and Effective Technique? / 대한소화기내시경학회지

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Needle-knife sphincterotomy (NKS) is an alternative technique to EST when selective bile duct cannulation can not be achieved with a variety of techniques or accessories. The risk of post-procedure pancreatitis is high, however, when papillary edema, sphincter of Oddi spasm, and the resulting restriction of pancreatic juice flow are induced by both mechanical injury associated with repeated cannulation attempts and possible burn injury due to NKS itself. Recently, nasopancreatic drainage and pancreatic stenting were suggested to be effective in preventing pancreatitis in patients with high risk of postprocedure pancreatitis and in patients who underwent NKS, respectively. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the role of pancreatic stenting on the clinical outcomes in patients with high risks of postprocedure pancreatitis who undergo NKS. METHODS: Of the 119 patients who had undergone NKS, pancreatic stenting with 2-4 cm, 7Fr polyethylene biliary stent was performed prior to NKS in 13 patients (pancreatic stent group), and an incision was begun without pancreatic stenting at the papillary roop avoiding trauma of the papillary orifice and thus, reducing the risks of pancreatitis in 15 patients (control group). Both groups were at high risks of pancreatitis associated with repeated, unsuccessful bile duct cannulation attempts. In the two groups, the success rate of bile duct cannulation and the incidence of pancreatitis were analyzed and compared.

A Case of Pheochromocytoma / 대한비뇨기과학회지

A l3-year-old boy was admitted to our hospital with severe hypertension, visual blurring, excessive sweating, polyuria and polydipsia. On admission, the blood pressure was persistently elevated at 230/180 mmHg. and an ophthalmologist was consulted, the funduscopic examination showed bilateral grade IV retinopathy. Cardiomegaly with dyspneic on exertion and persistent tachycardia were present. In urine examinations, proteinuria was sustained and glycosuria was traced. B. U. N. was 9.4 mg/dl. Urinary catecholamine was 12480 mic.g./day ; urinary V. M. A. was 20.2 mg./day. Regitine test was positive but histamine test was not performed. Presacral air insufflation with nephrotomography showed egg sized soft tissue mass locating at just above the upper pole of left kidney. He was operated with transabdominal approach. There were bilateral pheochromocytomas on suprarenal areas. Two weeks after operation, he was discharged with good general condition and we report this case with review of literatures.