Comparison of 3-Dimensional Pelvic Floor Ultrasonography and Defecography for Assessment of Posterior Pelvic Floor Disorders

Purpose@#The aim of this study was to determine the accuracy of 3-dimensional (3D) pelvic floor ultrasonography and compare it with defecography in assessment of posterior pelvic disorders. @*Methods@#Eligible patients were consecutive women undergoing 3D pelvic floor ultrasonography at one hospital between August 2017 and February 2019. All 3D pelvic floor ultrasonography was performed by one examiner. A total of 167 patients with suspected posterior pelvic disorder was retrospectively enrolled in the study. The patients were divided into 3 groups according to the main symptoms. @*Results@#There were 82 rectoceles on defecography (55 barium trapping) and 84 on 3D pelvic floor ultrasonography. Each modality identified 6 enteroceles. There were 43 patients with pelvic floor dyssynergia on defecography and 41 on ultrasonography. There were 84 patients with intussusception on defecography and 41 on 3D pelvic floor ultrasonography.Agreement of the 2 diagnostic tests was confirmed using Cohen’s kappa value. Rectocele (kappa, 0.784) and enterocele (kappa, 0.654) both indicated good agreement between defecography and 3D pelvic floor ultrasonography. In addition, pelvic floor dyssynergia (kappa, 0.406) showed moderate agreement, while internal intussusception (kappa, 0.296) had fair agreement. @*Conclusion@#This study showed good agreement for detection of posterior pelvic disorders between defecography and 3D pelvic floor ultrasonography.

Correlation of the Strain Elastography-Derived Elasticity Scores with Prognostic Histologic Features, Immunohistochemical Markers, and Molecular Subtypes of Invasive Ductal Carcinoma

PURPOSE@#To investigate the correlation of the strain elasticity of breast cancer with histologic features, immunohistochemical markers and molecular subtypes that are known to be factors related to prognosis.@*MATERIALS AND METHODS@#B-mode ultrasound and strain elastography were performed in 123 patients (mean age, 53.4; range, 28–82) with invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) (mean size, 1.54 cm; range, 0.4–7.0 cm). Histologic grade, lymph node (LN) status, lymphovascular invasion, immunohistochemical biomarkers [estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), CK5/6, epidermal growth factor receptor, and Ki-67] and molecular subtypes were determined from surgical pathology reports. The relationships between these factors and elasticity scores were evaluated.@*RESULTS@#LN involvement was associated with a higher elasticity score which was statistically significant (p = 0.042). The tumor size, lymphovascular invasion, histologic grades, immunohistochemical markers and molecular subtypes had no significant correlation with the elasticity score (p > 0.05 for all). However, the IDCs with larger size and a positive lymphovascular invasion tended to have higher elasticity scores. Furthermore, higher histologic grade cancers and the HER2 overexpression-type tended to have lower elasticity scores.@*CONCLUSION@#The elasticity score of IDC had a significant correlation with LN involvement but no statistically significant correlation with the histologic features, immunohistochemical markers or molecular subtypes.

Alignment-free sequence comparison using joint frequency and position information of k-words.

This paper proposes a novel alignment-free sequence comparison method to identify the genetic relationships of organisms with a high resolution. For an accurate comparison, both frequency and position information of k-words are obtained from genome sequences in the proposed alignment-free sequence comparison method. Using principal component analysis (PCA) and phylogeny analysis, we identify the classification performance of proposed method. Then, the phylogenetic trees of proposed and conventional schemes are compared with reliable reference tree.

Classification of various genomic sequences based on distribution of repeated k-word.

In order to extract phylogenetic information from DNA sequences, alignment-free methods and alignment-based methods are used. Alignment-based methods have high complexity and conventional alignment-free methods have low accuracy. In this paper, a new alignment-free method based on the distribution of repeated k-word measure is proposed. This novel measure is based on k-words and its multiple repeated words. We can get higher performance than conventional word count methods in case of using proposed scheme while maintaining total time complexity. The proposed measure shows better performance compared to conventional alignment-free methods with respect to RF distance.

A new alignment free genome comparison algorithm based on statistically estimated feature frequency profile.

The sequence comparison is an important part in bioinformatics to understand the biological property of genome. Although the alignment based sequence comparison is traditional and reliable algorithm, alignment free methods have been actively researched because of their advantage in terms of computational complexity. In this paper, we suggest a new alignment free genome comparison scheme based on statistical approach. From sequence components, word frequency information of the sequence is estimated. By investigating the relationship between estimated frequency information and actual word frequency, the characteristics of the sequence are numerically represented. The phylogenetic tree and the sequence classification of mammalian sequences are provided to reveal the remarkable performance of our statistical algorithm.

Pancreatic Panniculitis in Patients with Chronic Pancreatitis: Case Report and Review of Literature / 대한소화기학회지

Pancreatic panniculitis is a rare complication characterized by subcutaneous fat necrosis associated with pancreatic disease. It has been postulated that pancreatic panniculitis is caused by the systemic activity of pancreatic enzymes that lead to microcirculatory disturbances. We report a 41-year-old heavy alcoholic woman with pancreatic panniculitis that coexisted with acute and chronic pancreatitis. She was diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis and alcoholic liver cirrhosis 5 years ago. She presented with multiple, tender, erythematous, subcutaneous nodules with heat sensation on both lower legs. Laboratory evaluation revealed an increase in the serum blood amylase and lipase. Histopathologic findings showed fat necrosis with inflammation around the necrotic subcutaneous fat tissue. The lesions subsided gradually with an improvement of acute pancreatitis.

The Effect of Dexpanthenol in Postoperative Patients

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of dexpanthenol in postoperative patients. Dexpanthenol, the alcohol derivative of pantothenic acid, is believed to be a precursor of acetylcholine through its incorporation into coenzyme-A. METHODS: From June 2005 to December 2005, 130 curative abdominal surgery, which were divided into a dexpanthenol group with 65 patients and a control group with 65 patients, were prospectively and randomly studied for recovery of bowel motility. RESULTS: No significant difference was found between the two groups as to incidence of postoperative ileus (16.9% vs. 15.4%, P=0.081), the time to flatus (77.2+/-38.4 vs. 77.9+/-31.9 hours, P=0.90), the time to defecation (5.3+/-2.7 vs. 5.1+/-2.6 days, P=0.77), the time to resumption of meals (7.9+/-4.0 vs. 8.9+/-4.2 days, P=0.17), and the duration of hospital stay (16.4+/-7.8 vs. 17.9+/-11.5 days, P=0.39). CONSLUSIONS: Since no differences in the postoperative bowel motility were observed between the two groups, dexpanthenol is not recommended for general surgical use.

A Case of Stercoral Perforation of the Sigmoid Colon

A stercoral perforation of the colon is a rare phenomenon and is caused by severe prolonged constipation. Since the first reported case in 1894, approximately 80 additional cases have been reported. However, this rare condition seems to have been underestimated because of not only obscure diagnostic standards but also ignorance and failure to notice by surgeons. Due to its high mortality rate of about 35~40%, a stercoral ulcer perforation should be considered in any patient with chronic constipation who presents with peritonitis. We report a case of a 75-year-old female who was diagnosed as having a stercoral perforation of the sigmoid colon and review the clinical features, the diagnosis, and the treatment.

Prognostic Value of Preoperative Serum CEA and CA19-9 Levels in Gastric Cancer Patients

PURPOSE: The clinical significance of preoperative serum levels of tumor markers CEA and CA19-9 was evaluated in gastric cancer patients. METHODS: Serum levels of CEA and CA19-9 were measured in 1, 310 patients with gastric cancer who underwent laparotomies over a recent 10-year period (1992~2001). The correlations between the serum levels of tumor markers and several clinicopathological factors were evaluated by univariate analysis. The significance of the tumor markers as prognostic factor was assessed by multivariate analysis. RESULTS: The positivity rates of CEA and CA19-9 were 17.5% and 13.4%, respectively. The positivity rate of CEA was higher in the elderly, in male patients, and in those with histologically differentiated tumors, whereas CA19-9 positivity was related to tumor location. In addition, the positivity rates of each tumor marker were significantly correlated with tumor size, gross type, depth of invasion, lymph node metastasis, peritoneal and liver metastases, and cancer stage. A significant difference in survival was observed between patients positive and negative for CEA and CA19-9. The multivariate analysis showed that in addition to gross type, depth of invasion, lymph node metastasis, peritoneal and liver metastasis, preoperative serum CEA and CA19-9 levels among those undergoing However, multivariate analysis of curatively resected cases identified gross type, depth of invasion, lymph node metastasis, and CA19-9 as significant prognostic variables. CONCLUSION: Preoperative serum CEA and CA19-9 determination in patients with gastric cancer is of value for the prediction of tumor progression and prognosis. However, serum CA19-9 level was more useful than CEA as a1 prognostic factor in patients undergoing curative resection.

A Case of Mirizzi Syndrome Misdiagnosed as a Cholangiocarcinoma / 한국간담췌외과학회지

The Mirizzi syndrome is a rare benign cause of obstructive jaundice. It is particularly interesting to surgeons because the surgery has to be carefully planned to avoid unnecessary damage to the common bile duct. Furthermore, it gives a differential diagnosis dilemma for surgeons as well as radiologist because there are no diagnostic procedures or clinical features that have a perfect access. As a result, the Mirizzi syndrome often has been mistaken for gallbladder cancer and cholangiocarcinoma. We experienced of a 76-year-old male patient, whose clinical symptoms were jaundice, epigastric pain and fever with chill and misdiagnosed as a cholangiocarcinoma with liver metastasis.

Prognostic value of 99mTc-phytate liver scintigraphy in patient with liver cirrhosis / 대한핵의학회잡지

No abstract available.

Prognostic value of 99mTc-phytate liver scintigraphy in patient with liver cirrhosis / 대한핵의학회잡지

No abstract available.