Venous Thromboembolism Following Abdominal Cancer Surgery in the Korean Population: Incidence and Validation of a Risk Assessment Model.

Background: A cancer patient slated for abdominal surgery is considered to be at moderate to high risk for developing venous thromboembolism (VTE), but the incidence is quite low in Korean patients. Most risk assessment models and recommendations for VTE management are from Western reports, however they possibly overestimate the risk of VTE in the Korean population.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 1966 patients who were diagnosed with abdominal organ cancer and required surgical treatment.

Efficacy of volumetric analysis of aorta as surveillance tool after EVAR.

Objective: Compared to the diameter measurement, volume measurement of the aneurysm can be an alternative option for accurate evaluation. This study was undertaken to analyze the relationship between the diameter and the volume measurement of the aorta after EVAR.

Methods: From January 2012 to December 2016, 82 patients underwent EVAR in our institution.

Differences in C-type lectin receptors and their adaptor molecules in the peritoneal fluid of patients with endometriosis and gynecologic cancers.

Endometriosis, although not malignant, has clinically demonstrated properties of invasiveness and metastasis. The pathogenesis of endometriosis, however, has not yet been elucidated. The immunological differences between endometriosis and malignant gynecologic tumors were analyzed by assessing C-type lectin receptors, which are associated with innate immunity, and immunoglobulin secretion, which is associated with B cell adaptive immunity, in the peritoneal fluid of these patients.

Five-Year Single Center Experience for Retroperitoneoscopic Ureterolithotomy.

Introduction: Narrow working space is a major problem to overcome during retroperitoneoscopic ureterolithotomy. We evaluated initial 5 years experience of retroperitoneoscopic ureterolithotomy for large impacted upper ureteral calculi.

Patients And Methods: Between January 2011 and December 2015, a total of 37 consecutive patients were evaluated.

Usefulness of assisted procedures for arteriovenous fistula maturation without compromising access patency.

Introduction: To increase the rate of arteriovenous fistula (AVF) use, assisted procedures for immature AVF have been strenuously performed. However, this is controversial in that an AVF matured by these assisted procedures may require more frequent intervention to maintain its patency, and have decreased long-term patency.

Methods: Eighty four AVFs that were matured with assisted maturation procedures and 266 AVFs that matured spontaneously without intervention, created between November 2009 and March 2013 from the hemodialysis (HD) vascular access (VA) cohort, were compared retrospectively and we also investigated the factors that may influence AVF long-term patency.

Radiofrequency ablation of varicose veins improves venous clinical severity score despite failure of complete closure of the saphenous vein after 1 year.

Background And Objectives: Endovenous treatment is increasingly supplanting open surgery for the treatment of varicose veins. Among emerging endovenous techniques, radiofrequency ablation (RFA) with a ClosureFast catheter is popular in Korea. The objective of this study was to evaluate and compare the efficacy and patient-reported outcomes of RFA of varicose veins.

Relationship between obesity and hearing loss.

Conclusion: Underweight and severe obesity were associated with an increased prevalence of hearing loss in a Korean population.

Objective: The relationship between weight and hearing loss is unclear. This study, therefore, analyzed the relationship between hearing loss and body mass index (BMI) in a Korean population.

Current trends of major arterial diseases in Korea: based on data from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service.

Purpose: This study aims to figure out the changes of the prevalence and management of carotid arterial occlusive diseases (CAOD), abdominal aortic diseases (AAA), and arterial diseases of the lower extremities (LAOD) in Korea over the past 5 years.

Methods: Data were extracted from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service during the period from 2008 to 2012.

Results: The number of patients with CAOD increased by about 30% every year.

Ruptured aneurysm of the external iliac vein.

Primary iliac venous aneurysm is an extremely rare vascular abnormality that is associated with the likelihood of rupture, embolism, and thrombosis. In this report, we describe the case of a ruptured aneurysm of the external iliac vein in a 63-year-old woman who was admitted to the emergency department and diagnosed by computed tomography. Computed tomography indicated a 4 × 5-cm ruptured aneurysm in the right external iliac vein that was surrounded by hematoma in the right side of the pelvis.

Efficacy of Retrievable Inferior Vena Cava Filter Placement in the Prevention of Pulmonary Embolism during Catheter-Directed Thrombectomy for Proximal Lower-Extremity Deep Vein Thrombosis.

Background: Inferior vena cava (IVC) filter placement is not indicated for thrombolytic interventional treatment for deep vein thrombosis (DVT). We analyzed the efficacy and feasibility of retrievable IVC filter placement for the preventive management of embolic shedding during catheter-directed thrombectomy (CDT) for DVT of lower extremity.

Methods: Seventy patients (35 males and 35 females) who underwent retrievable IVC filter placement to prevent thrombus dislodgement during CDT in all symptomatic DVT with thrombus age suspected within 4 weeks of the lower extremity between March 2008 and January 2014 were included in this study.

Prevalence of the Factor XIII Val34Leu Polymorphism in Korean Patients with Deep Vein Thrombosis.

Objective: According to recent reports, a common polymorphism resulting in Val to Leu substitution, located 3 amino acids (Val34Leu) upstream of the thrombin cleavage site of FXIII A, has been related to a lower incidence of deep vein thrombosis (DVT). And, a different expression pattern has been shown across nations and races. However, the frequency of FXIII polymorphism expression in Koreans has not been reported in normal individuals or DVT-patient groups.

Comparison between operative versus non-operative management of traumatic liver injury.

Backgrounds/aims: The aim of this study was to compare operative versus non-operative management of patients with liver injury and to ascertain the differences of the clinical features.

Methods: From April 2000 to July 2012, 191 patients were admitted to Seoul St. Mary's Hospital and St.

Occurrence and Prognosis of Symptomatic Venous Thromboembolism in Colorectal Cancer Surgery Patients.

Purpose: Colorectal cancer (CRC) has a high risk for postoperative thromboembolic complications such as venous thromboembolism (VTE) compared to other surgical diseases, but the relationship between VTE and CRC in Asian patients remains poorly understood. The present study examined the incidence of symptomatic VTE in Korean patients who underwent surgery for CRC. We also identified risk factors, incidence and survival rate for VTE in these patients.

Increased expression of pattern recognition receptors and nitric oxide synthase in patients with endometriosis.

Objective: Endometriosis is characterized by repeated inflammatory changes and serious adhesions, inducing innate and adaptive immune responses within the abdominal cavity. To assess these immune responses, we evaluated the levels of expression of Toll-like receptors (TLR)-1, -2, -4, -5, and -9; nucleotide-binding oligomerization domains (NOD)-1 and -2; interleukins-1β, -6, -8, -10, and -12; interferon-γ; tumor necrosis factor-α; inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and endothelial NOS (eNOS); and immunoglobulins (Igs) in patients with endometriosis.

Methods: The levels of TLRs, NODs, cytokines, and NOS mRNAs in peritoneal effusions were assessed by real time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction; and IgG, IgA and IgM concentrations were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) in 40 patients with and 40 without endometriosis.

Solid pseudopapillary tumor with hepatic metastasis.

Solid pseudopapillary tumor of the pancreas is a rare tumor that affects young females with low malignant potential and good prognosis with more than 90% survival at 5 years. Metastasis is very rare. We report the case of a 74-year-old female who had pancreatic solid-pseudopapillary tumor and synchronous hepatic metastasis.

Effects of female sex hormones on clusterin expression and paclitaxel resistance in endometrial cancer cell lines.

Objective: We have analyzed the association between clusterin expression in endometrial cancer cells and their resistance to paclitaxel. We also analyzed whether the effects of female sex hormones on clusterin expression by these cell lines affect their resistance to paclitaxel.

Methods: The expression of estrogen receptors α and β, progesterone receptors AB and B, and clusterin mRNA and protein was assayed in the ECC-1 and KLE endometrial cancer cell lines by RT-PCR and Western blotting, respectively.

Significance of CD133 as a cancer stem cell markers focusing on the tumorigenicity of pancreatic cancer cell lines.

Purpose: The cancer stem cell hypothesis states that the capacity of a cancer to grow and propagate is dependent on a small subset of cells. To determine the significances of the cancer stem cell markers CD133, CD44, and CD24 using a comparative analysis with a focus on tumorigenicity.

Methods: Four pancreatic cancer cell lines, Capan-1, Mia-PACA-2, Panc-1, and SNU-410 were analyzed for the expressions of CD133, CD44, and CD24 by flow cytometry.

Aortic transection and diverting bypass as treatment of repetitive recurrent abdominal aortic false aneurysm rupture in a patient with Behcet's disease.

Abdominal aortic false aneurysms in patients with Behcet's disease have been reported frequently and repaired successfully by various procedures; however, anastomotic false aneurysms have often been reported to occur after the operation. In this article, we report a case of four-time repetitive, recurrent suprarenal abdominal aortic false aneurysm ruptures that lasted for 7 years. The location of this aneurysm was not easy to repair not only by open surgical procedures but by endovascular stent because the aortic defect was too close to the visceral arterial branches.

A case of Riedel's thyroiditis associated with benign nodule: mimic of anaplastic transformation.

Riedel's thyroiditis is a rare variant of thyroiditis and characterized by the replacement of thyroid parenchyma by extensive fibrosis. Typically, the thyroid is diffusely involved and a painless, hard anterior neck mass shows clinical features similar to those of anaplastic thyroid carcinoma: a rapidly enlarging, hard, fixed thyroid mass and symptoms such as dysphagia, dysphonia, and dyspnea. We experienced a case of Riedel's thyroiditis that had presented rapidly growing, hard, fixed, thyroid mass mimicking anaplastic thyroid cancer in a 41-year-old female patient with longstanding benign thyroid nodule for 6 years.

Prognostic significance of HER2 gene amplification according to stage of breast cancer.

It is well known that the amplification of the HER2 gene is closely associated with poor prognosis of breast cancer. However, there is controversy about the clinical significance of HER2 according to lymph node status in breast cancer. The aim of this study was to identify the differences in the prognostic significance of HER2 gene amplification according to the stages of breast cancer.

Inhibitory effects of tilianin on the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase in low density lipoprotein receptor deficiency mice.

We investigated the effect of tilianin upon inducible nitric oxide synthesis in the plasma of low-density lipoprotein receptor knock-out (Ldlr-/-) mice fed with high cholesterol diet and in primary peritoneal macrophages of Ldlr-/- mice. High cholesterol diet induced nitric oxide production in the plasma of Ldlr-/- mice. Tilianin reduced the level of nitric oxide (NO) in plasma from Ldlr-/- mice induced by the high cholesterol diet.