Radiofrequency Ablation of Hepatocellular Carcinoma (≤ 5 cm) with Saline-Perfused Electrodes: Factors Affecting Local Tumor Progression.

Purpose: We aimed to assess local tumor progression (LTP) rate and associated prognostic factors in 92 patients who underwent radiofrequency ablation (RFA) using saline-perfused electrodes to treat hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) (≤ 5 cm).

Materials And Methods: Total 92 patients with 148 HCCs were treated with RFA using salineperfused electrodes, from 2009 to 2015. We retrospectively evaluated technical success, technique efficacy, and LTP rates.

Clinical outcomes after the introduction of direct antiviral agents for patients infected with genotype 1b hepatitis C virus depending on the regimens: A multicenter study in Korea.

Background: A real-life study is essential outside clinical trials. The aim is to evaluate the clinical outcomes of direct acting agents (DAA) for patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) in real practice.

Methods: We analyzed 590 consecutively enrolled patients with CHC-1b who received DAAs since 2015, when DAAs were introduced in Korea.

Adult Living Donor Liver Transplantation Using Hepatitis B Core Antibody-Positive Grafts in Korea, a Hepatitis B-endemic Region.

Background/aims: The exclusion of hepatitis B core antibody (HBcAb)-positive donors from liver transplants (LTs) due to the risk of transmitting hepatitis B virus (HBV) does not appear to be practical in Korea, where hepatitis B is endemic. This study assessed the risk of de novo HBV infection in hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-negative LT recipients receiving a liver from HBcAb-positive donors.

Methods: Of 341 adult living donor LTs conducted at our institution between March 2001 and September 2008, 176 donors (51.

Long-term outcome of high-intensity focused ultrasound in advanced pancreatic cancer.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate safety and efficacy of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) for advanced pancreatic cancer (PC).

Methods: Patients with PC TNM stage III or IV were included. Magnetic resonance imaging was performed 2 weeks before and after the HIFU.

Oltipraz therapy in patients with liver fibrosis or cirrhosis: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase II trial.

Objectives: Oltipraz, a cancer chemopreventive agent, has an anticirrhotic effect in animals. A phase II trial was designed to investigate the preliminary efficacy of oltipraz therapy in liver fibrosis or cirrhosis.

Method: Of 83 patients who were randomized to receive placebo, oltipraz 60 mg bid or oltipraz 90 mg qd for 24 weeks, 68 completed the study without any major protocol violation.

Clevudine-induced viral response, associated with continued reduction of HBsAg titer, was durable after the withdrawal of therapy.

Background: This study was conducted to evaluate the durability of clevudine-induced viral response after the withdrawal of treatment.

Methods: Patients who showed a complete response [alanine aminotransferase (ALT) normalization and hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA <4,700 copies/mL for hepatitis B envelope antigen (HBeAg)-negative patients; ALT normalization, HBV DNA <4,700 copies/mL, and HBeAg seroconversion for HBeAg-positive patients] in the previous clevudine phase III trials were followed for an additional 96 weeks without any treatment for hepatitis B.

Results: Of the 63 patients in the study cohort, 73% and 35% of the patients had HBV DNA <141,500 and <4,700 copies/mL, respectively, and 75% of the patients had normal ALT at the end of follow-up.

A case of spontaneous regression of advanced gastric cancer.

An 84 yr-old male with a history of nausea and vomiting for 3 weeks was admitted to our hospital. Esopahgogastroduodenoscopy showed the diffuse infiltrative type of gastric cancer encircling from the cardia to the lower body. On abdominal computerized tomography, the gastric wall was diffusely thickened with overlying mucosal enhancement without lymph node involvement.

[Remission of ulcerative colitis after appendectomy: a case report].

The inverse correlation of appendectomy and ulcerative colitis is well known, but the effect of appendectomy on the clinical course of ulcerative colitis remains unclear. Although the majority of opinions were negative for the therapeutic advantage of appendectomy in patients with ulcerative colitis, advocates for positive effect of appendectomy have been proposed in a few case reports and a prospective study from Western countries. We herein report a case of ulcerative colitis who experienced clinical remission after appendectomy for acute appendicitis.

High-intensity focused ultrasound ablation in hepatic and pancreatic cancer: complications.

Purpose: To evaluate the complications of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) in patients with hepatic and pancreatic cancer.

Materials And Methods: From January 2006 to December 2008, 133 sessions of HIFU treatment were performed in 114 consecutive patients with primary hepatic tumor (n = 57), hepatic metastasis (n = 22), and pancreatic cancer (n = 35) under general anesthesia. The extracorporeal, ultrasound-guided Model-JC system (HAIFU, Chongqing, China) was used.

[Change in the serologic markers of hepatitis B after allogenic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation].

Background/aims: This study examined the effects of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection state and immunologic capability in both the recipients and donors of allogenic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) on changes in HBV serologic markers in recipients.

Methods: A total of 537 patients underwent allo-HSCT for the treatment of leukemia, malignant lymphoma, and solid tumor. HBV serologic markers were examined in both recipients and donors prior to and following the transplantation.

Congenital hemidiaphragmatic agenesis presenting as reversible mesenteroaxial gastric volvulus and diaphragmatic hernia: a case report.

A 70-yr-old woman complained of left sided chest pain and non-bilious vomiting for four days after taking a gastric bloating agent for an upper gastrointestinal study. The chest radiography revealed gastric air-fluid levels and bowel loops in the left thoracic cavity. An emergency thoracotomy was performed.

Preliminary experience using high intensity focused ultrasound for treating liver metastasis from colon and stomach cancer.

Purpose: To determine the efficacy and safety from our preliminary results of using high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) to treat liver metastasis from colon and stomach cancer.

Materials And Methods: Ten patients with liver metastasis from colon cancer and three from stomach cancer underwent HIFU under general anesthesia. HIFU was performed using an extracorporeal, ultrasound-guided focused system.

Polyps in the gastrointestinal tract: discrepancy between endoscopic forceps biopsies and resected specimens.

Background And Aim: An endoscopic forceps biopsy (EFB) carries the risk of missing the neoplastic foci within a polyp as only a small portion of the lesion is sampled using this technique. Accordingly, the histological examination of specimens obtained by an EFB is of limited accuracy and patient management based on the histological findings is controversial. The aim of this prospective study was to determine the diagnostic concordance between an EFB and resected tissues of gastric and colon polyps.

Clinical outcome of Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome mimicking acute biliary disease.

Aim: To analyze the clinical characteristics of patients diagnosed with Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome.

Methods: The clinical courses of patients that visited St. Mary's Hospital with abdominal pain from January 2005 to December 2006 and were diagnosed with Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome were examined.

The anatomical distribution of colorectal cancer in Korea: evaluation of the incidence of proximal and distal lesions and synchronous adenomas.

Objective: The incidence of colorectal cancer throughout the Republic of Korea has been rising over the last 25 years. The change in incidence is supposed to be due to the westernized life style. We evaluated the anatomical distribution of colorectal cancer and the properties of synchronous adenomatous polyps in the Korean population which were known to be different from those in Western countries.

High intensity focused ultrasound therapy resulted in a complete response in a patient with advanced gastric cancer with liver metastases: a case report.

Different therapeutic strategies have been tried when liver metastasis develops after a gastrectomy for gastric cancer, but the disease still has a poor prognosis. We present a 35-year-old woman who achieved complete radiological remission of liver metastases from advanced gastric cancer after a single therapeutic high intensity focused ultrasound session. Our observations suggest that high intensity focused ultrasound combined with chemotherapy may be an additional treatment option for patients with liver metastases from advanced gastric cancer.

Endoscopic evaluation in gastrointestinal graft-versus-host disease: comparisons with histological findings.

The gastrointestinal (GI) tract is the major target site of the graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). Whether endoscopic findings can predict the histological diagnosis and degree of severity in GVHD remains controversial. We investigated the degree of correlation between endoscopic and histological findings, and evaluated the impact of endoscopic examination on clinical decision in GVHD management.

Short-term overlap lamivudine treatment with adefovir dipivoxil in patients with lamivudine-resistant chronic hepatitis B.

Aim: To evaluate the efficacy of short-term overlap lamivudine therapy with adefovir in patients with lamivudine-resistant and naive chronic hepatitis B, we compared patients receiving overlap therapy with those receiving adefovir alone.

Methods: Eighty patients who had received lamivudine treatment for various periods and had a lamivudine-resistant liver function abnormality were enrolled. Forty of these patients received adefovir treatment combined with lamivudine treatment for > or = 2 mo, while the other 40 received adefovir alone.

[The efficacy and safety of telbivudine in korean patients with chronic hepatitis B].

Background And Aims: Telbivudine is an L-nucleoside analogue with potent antiviral activity against hepatitis B virus (HBV). Clinical trials have shown that telbivudine is more potent than lamivudine for suppressing virus.

Methods: A total 101 Korean patients among 1,367 patients who participated in the phase III GLOBE trial were randomized in this study.

Decreased hepatic nerve fiber innervation in patients with liver cirrhosis.

Background/aims: Hepatic nerve innervation plays important roles in hepatic metabolism and hemodynamic mechanisms. We compared the distribution patterns of hepatic nerves between normal livers and two liver diseases to elucidate the effects of liver disease on the distribution of hepatic nerves.

Methods: Tissue specimens were obtained by ultrasonography-guided needle biopsies from 10 normal controls, 74 patients with chronic hepatitis (CH), and 35 patients with liver cirrhosis (LC).

The papilla of Vater just below the pylorus presenting as recurrent duodenal ulcer bleeding.

The papilla of Vater emptying into the duodenal bulb site is extremely rare and considered an aberrant condition. We report here a case with recurrent duodenal ulcer bleeding associated with this anomaly. A 42-year-old man was admitted to St.

A large inflammatory fibroid polyp in the sigmoid colon treated by endoscopic resection.

Inflammatory fibroid polyp (IFP) is a rare, localized, nonneoplastic lesion originating from the submucosa of the gastrointestinal tract. Microscopically, these lesions are made up of a complex network of variable-size blood vessels and diffuse inflammatory cells contained in the edematous stroma. They are most often found in the stomach, followed by the small intestine, and rarely in the esophagus or the large intestine.

Clevudine is highly efficacious in hepatitis B e antigen-negative chronic hepatitis B with durable off-therapy viral suppression.

Unlabelled: Clevudine is a pyrimidine analog with potent and sustained antiviral activity against HBV. In the present study, we evaluated the safety and efficacy of clevudine 30 mg daily for 24 weeks and assessed the durability of antiviral response for 24 weeks after cessation of dosing in hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-negative chronic hepatitis B (e-CHB). We randomized a total of 86 patients (3:1) to receive clevudine 30 mg (n = 63) or placebo (n = 23) daily for 24 weeks.

Clevudine therapy for 24 weeks further reduced serum hepatitis B virus DNA levels and increased ALT normalization rates without emergence of viral breakthrough than 12 weeks of clevudine therapy.

Objectives: The objectives of the study were to evaluate the safety and antiviral activity of 24-week treatment with clevudine 30 mg in HBeAg(+) chronic hepatitis B patients. Biochemical and serological responses were also assessed.

Method: Twenty-one patients received clevudine 30 mg for 24 weeks and were followed up for another 24 weeks off therapy.

Clinical outcomes of delayed clearance of serum HBsAG in patients with chronic HBV infection.

Background: Spontaneous delayed clearance of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in patients with chronic HBV infection is a rare event. The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence of delayed clearance of serum HBsAg in chronic HBV infection and to determine the characteristics and clinical outcomes of HBsAg delayed clearance in Korean patients.

Methods: From April 1981 to June 2003, 4,061 patients who were positive for HBsAg were evaluated retrospectively.