A Case of Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma in which the Skin Metastasis was Concurrently Present and Response Occurred to Chemotherapy / Journal of the Korean Cancer Association, 대한암학회지

Medullary thyroid carcinoma accounts for 3% of all thyroid gland malignancies. It commonly metastasizes to liver, lung, and bone. It rarely metastasizes to skin, and only a few such cases have been documented. Cutaneous metastasis suggests a poor prognosis, with a mean survival of 7.5-19 months. The most effective treatment for skin metastasis is complete surgical removal of all local and regional lesions. The response to systemic chemotherapy is typically poor. We report a case of medullary thyroid carcinoma with cutaneous metastases, which responded to chemotherapy.

Clinical Characteristics of Tuberculosis in Combat and Auxiliary Police in Korea / 감염과화학요법

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to document the incidence and clinical characteristics of patients with tuberculosis (TB) in combat and auxiliary police, living in a group, in Korea where the incidence rate of active TB in a general population is higher than in Western countries. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of all tuberculosis patients diagnosed at National Police Hospital from January 2002 through December 2004. RESULTS: In 2002-2004, a total of 156 cases of tuberculosis were identified with the mean (Standard deviation) age of 20.6 (+/-1.0) years. Of these, 134 (85.9%) patients were registered as new cases, 11 (7.1%) as relapse, 2 (1.3%) as failure, 5 (3.1%) as treatment-after-default cases whereas 4 (2.6 %) patients were not included in any categories. Average annual new TB rate and smear-positive TB rate were 86.5/105 and 17.4/105 person-years, respectively. In 12 of 31 smear-positive cases, time from onset of symptoms to diagnosis was more than 30 days. Two multidrug-resistance TB cases were identified and two suspected outbreak episodes of TB had occurred during 3 years. CONCLUSION: There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence rate of new cases of TB between the general population aged 20 to 29 years and combat and auxiliary police in Korea.

Clinical Characteristics of Tuberculosis in Combat and Auxiliary Police in Korea / 감염과화학요법

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to document the incidence and clinical characteristics of patients with tuberculosis (TB) in combat and auxiliary police, living in a group, in Korea where the incidence rate of active TB in a general population is higher than in Western countries. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of all tuberculosis patients diagnosed at National Police Hospital from January 2002 through December 2004. RESULTS: In 2002-2004, a total of 156 cases of tuberculosis were identified with the mean (Standard deviation) age of 20.6 (+/-1.0) years. Of these, 134 (85.9%) patients were registered as new cases, 11 (7.1%) as relapse, 2 (1.3%) as failure, 5 (3.1%) as treatment-after-default cases whereas 4 (2.6 %) patients were not included in any categories. Average annual new TB rate and smear-positive TB rate were 86.5/105 and 17.4/105 person-years, respectively. In 12 of 31 smear-positive cases, time from onset of symptoms to diagnosis was more than 30 days. Two multidrug-resistance TB cases were identified and two suspected outbreak episodes of TB had occurred during 3 years. CONCLUSION: There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence rate of new cases of TB between the general population aged 20 to 29 years and combat and auxiliary police in Korea.

The Relationship of QT Variables with Ischemic Heart Disease in Diabetic Patients

BACKGROUND: Diabetic patients have an excess risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, QT interval variables on EKG were suggested as a non-invasive diagnostic tool in the assessment of diabetic cardiac autonomic neuropathy. It has been recently reported that QT interval variables could predict cardiac death in diabetic patients. We investigated whether QT interval variables also predicted ischemic heart disease in diabetic patients. METHODS: Among non-insulin dependent diabetic patients who were admitted to Hangang Sacred Heart Hospital since 1993, we selected study subjects who had no ischemic heart disease at the time of EKG and were follewed up for more than 4 years. Sex, age, duration of diabetes, blood pressure, smoking, HbAlc, diabetic, retinopathy, serum creatinine concentration at the time of EKG and QT interval variables(QT, QTc,QT dispersion, QTc dispersion) were analysed by regression analysis with ischemic heart disease as the sole end point. RESULTS: Out of total 118 patients, 21 patients developed ischemic heart disease during follow-up. Patients were followed up for a mean of 68 months. Sex,age, duration of diabetes, serum creatinine concentration and all QT variables were identified as the potentially important variables in univariate analysis. In Cox multivariate analysis with these variables, serum creatinine concentration and all QT variables were significant and independent predictors of ischemic heart disease in diabetic patients. Among QT variables, QTc dispersin outperformed all other predictors(risk ratio 8.132; confidence interval 3.908~16.921) CONCLUSION: These results suggest that QT interval variables, especially QTc dispersion, could be a useful predictor of ischemic heart disease in diabetic patients and could be used as screening test to select diabetic patients for more extensive cardiac investigation.

A case of extraluminal leiomyosarcoma of IVC / 대한내과학회지

We report a case of extraluminal leiomyosarcoma of inferior vena cave(IVC) in a 56 year old woman. She was admitted to our hospital because of right lower quadrant discomfort for a month. Radiologic finding including ultrasonography, computerized tomography, magnetic resonance imaging showed heterogenous solid mass adhering to IVC and the confirmative diagnosis was made by ultrasonography guided percutaneous needle biopsy. She underwent radical resection surgery. No adjuvant treatment was performed and she has been in the follow up without recurrence of the disease.