• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
• /
• v.20 no.3
• /
• pp.185-190
• /
• 2016

Xanthogranulomatous inflammation is a rare benign condition involving various organs. However, its pancreas involvement is very rare. To the best of our knowledge, only 17 cases have been described in the literature. Interestingly, all reported 17 cases due to various causes underwent surgical resection. Here, we present a case of xanthogranulomatous pancreatitis in a 63-year-old man. He presented with epigastric pain and solid mass mimicking ductal adenocarcinoma in the body and tail of pancreas on magnetic resonance imaging. The patient was diagnosed as xanthogranulomatous pancreatitis via endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration. After that, he was followed up and monitored without any surgical treatment. Here, we show imaging findings and serial image changes of xanthogranulomatous pancreatitis for this case.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.56 no.6
• /
• pp.420-430
• /
• 2023

Background: This study provides an update to a landmark 2004 report describing demographics, training, and trends in adherence to thoracic surgery practice standards in Canada. Methods: An updated questionnaire was administered to all members of the Canadian Association of Thoracic Surgeons via email (n=142, compared to n=68 in 2004). Our report incorporates internal data from Ontario Health and the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer. Results: Forty-eight surgeons completed the survey (male, 70.8%; mean±standard deviation age, 50.3±9.3 years). This represents a 33.8% response rate, compared to 64.7% in 2004. Most surgeons (69%) served a patient population of over 1 million per center; 32%-34% reported an on-call ratio of 1:4-1:5 days, and the average weekly hours worked was 56.4±11.9. Greater access to dedicated geographic units per center (73% in 2021 vs. 53% in 2004) has improved thoracic-associated services and house staff, notably endoscopy units (100% vs. 91%), with 73% of respondents having access to both endobronchial and endoscopic ultrasound. Access to thoracic radiology has also improved, particularly regarding positron emission tomography scanners per center (76.9% vs. 13%). Annual case volumes for lung (255 vs. 128), esophageal (41 vs. 19), and mediastinal resections (30 vs. 13), along with hiatal hernia repair (45 vs. 20), have increased substantially despite reports of operating room availability and radiology as rate-limiting steps. Conclusion: This survey characterizes compliance with current practice standards, addressing the needs of thoracic surgeons across Canada. Over 85% of respondents were aware of the 2004 compliance paper, and 35% had applied for resources and equipment in response.

• Annals of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery
• /
• v.27 no.2
• /
• pp.141-150
• /
• 2023

Pancreatic carcinosarcoma is a very rare malignancy with a poor prognosis. Because of these characteristics, a treatment strategy for it has not been established yet. The aim of this study was to establish a therapeutic strategy for pancreatic carcinosarcoma. We reviewed data of a 65-year-old female patient who was diagnosed with pancreatic carcinosarcoma through endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration biopsy before surgery. For literature review, we searched PubMed using terms of "Pancreatic" or "Pancreas" and "carcinosarcoma" or "carcinosarcomatous". The patient received 11 cycles of neoadjuvant treatment with leucovorin, fluorouracil, irinotecan, oxaliplatin and pembrolizumab because the tumor was borderline resectable. She underwent stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy (SABR) with 35 Gy in 5 fractions, followed by robotic pylorus-preserving pancreaticoduodenectomy. After surgery, the patient received adjuvant chemotherapy in the same regimen as before surgery. She is alive without any recurrence. Among 48 patients within 33 available papers, the median survival time was 15 months. The survival rate of patients who received adjuvant chemotherapy tended to be higher than that of those who did not receive adjuvant chemotherapy, although the difference was not statistically significant (median survival, 47 vs. 15 months; p = 0.485). Three patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy had a survival period of 13-23.5 months. Surgery with lymphadenectomy, adjuvant therapy, and neoadjuvant therapy are thought to help improve survival outcomes. Modern treatment approaches for conventional pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma could be applied to pancreatic carcinosarcoma.

• Clinical Endoscopy
• /
• v.57 no.3
• /
• pp.393-401
• /
• 2024

Background/Aims: Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) is a highly accurate method for diagnosing pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNETs); however, some PNETs are difficult to diagnose. Recently, the efficacy of needle-based confocal laser endomicroscopy (nCLE) in diagnosing solid pancreatic masses has been reported. However, the efficacy of nCLE in the diagnosis of PNETs remains unknown and only a small number of cases have been reported. Hence, this study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of nCLE in the diagnosis of PNETs. Methods: This single-center retrospective study evaluated 30 consecutive patients with suspected PNETs on contrast-enhanced computed tomography, who consented to nCLE combined with EUS-FNA and were diagnosed using EUS-FNA or surgical resection. The diagnostic criteria for PNETs using nCLE were based on the nesting and trabecular and glandular arrangement of tumor cell clusters surrounded by capillary vessels and fibrosis, as reported in previous studies. Results: The diagnosis using nCLE was classified into three categories: misdiagnosis in three cases (10%), non-diagnostic in six cases (20%), and diagnostic in 21 cases (70%). nCLE was able to diagnose PNET in one of the two cases with inconclusive EUS-FNA. Conclusions: Although further development of the resolution and optimization of the diagnostic criteria are required, nCLE may constitute a useful diagnostic option in cases of inconclusive EUS-FNA for PNETs.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
• /
• v.14 no.2
• /
• pp.87-104
• /
• 2014

Although gastric cancer is quite common in Korea, the treatment outcome is relatively favorable compared to those in western countries. However, there are currently no Korean multidisciplinary guidelines for gastric cancer. Experts from related societies developed guidelines de novo to meet Korean circumstances and requirements, including 23 recommendation statements for diagnosis (n=9) and treatment (n=14) based on relevant key questions. The quality of the evidence was rated according to the GRADE evidence evaluation framework: the evidence levels were based on a systematic review of the literature, and the recommendation grades were classified as either strong or weak. The applicability of the guidelines was considered to meet patients' view and preferences in the context of Korea. The topics of the guidelines cover diagnostic modalities (endoscopy, endoscopic ultrasound, and radiologic diagnosis), treatment modalities (surgery, therapeutic endoscopy, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy), and pathologic evaluation. An external review of the guidelines was conducted during the finalization phase.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
• /
• v.36 no.1
• /
• pp.114-118
• /
• 2009

Sialolithiasis is the formation of calcific concretions within the ductal system of major or minor salivary glands. The submandibular gland is most involved because of its high viscosity of the saliva and the long, curved duct. It may occur at any age but, it is most common in middle-aged adults and rare in childhood. Clinical symptoms in sialolithiasis are variable but, swelling is the most common, followed by the pain. Clinical examination and radiographic examination(panoramic and mandibular occlusal radiographs, sialography, intraoral-, extraoral- ultrasound, CT scan, MRI and sialoendoscopy) can help to confirm a diagnosis and localize a stone. The treatment is surgical intervention, either removal of the sialolith or sialoadenectomy. However, non-invasive techniques including shock-wave lithotripsy, $CO_2$ laser and endoscopic treatment used in selected cases. A 5-Year-old girl referred from private practice for evaluation of a yellowish mass on the floor of the mouth. She complained that it had became three times bigger than four months ago when it was found for the first time and she had some pain on submandibular gland area occasionally. On physical examination, a firm and yellowish mass could be seen at the orifice of the submandibular duct. Diagnosis is the submandibular sialolithiasis in the anterior Wharton`s duct. Under local anesthesia, stone was removed.

• Journal of Digestive Cancer Research
• /
• v.7 no.1
• /
• pp.22-25
• /
• 2019

A 58-year-old woman presented with right flank and back pain for one month. After undergoing an abdominal computed tomography (CT), she was referred to our hospital. The abdominal CT showed a hypodense pancreatic tail mass with multiple retroperitoneal lymph node metastases. Positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) scan showed high 18F-FDG uptake in pancreatic tumor and enlarged lymph nodes. Endoscopic ultrasound fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) revealed adenocarcinoma, which stained strongly in hENT1 (human equilibrative nucleoside transporter 1) on immunohistochemistry. She received gemcitabine 1,000 mg/m² + nanoparticle albumin-bound paclitaxel 125 mg/m² as a palliative chemotherapy. Follow-up abdominal CT and PET-CT after 4 cycles of chemotherapy showed that both pancreatic mass and the metastatic retroperitoneal lymph nodes were nearly disappeared. We report a case of 58-year-old female with metastatic pancreatic cancer who had a dramatic response to palliative chemotherapy (gemcitabine plus nanoparticle albumin-bound paclitaxel).

• The Korean journal of internal medicine
• /
• v.39 no.4
• /
• pp.603-611
• /
• 2024

Background/Aims: There is limited knowledge regarding the management of duodenal subepithelial lesions (SELs) owing to a lack of understanding of their natural course. This study aimed to assess the natural course of asymptomatic duodenal SELs and provide management recommendations. Methods: Patients diagnosed with duodenal SELs and followed up for a minimum of 6 months were retrospectively investigated. Results: Among the 443,533 patients who underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy between 2008 and 2020, duodenal SELs were identified in 0.39% (1,713 patients). Among them, 396 duodenal SELs were monitored for a median period of 72.5 months (interquartile range, 37.7-111.3 mo). Of them, 16 SELs (4.0%) showed substantial changes in size or morphology at a median follow-up of 35.1 months (interquartile range, 21.7-51.4 mo). Of these SELs with substantial changes, tissues of two SELs were acquired using endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration biopsy: one was a lipoma and the other was non-diagnostic. Three SELs were surgically or endoscopically removed; two were diagnosed as gastrointestinal stromal tumors, and one was a lipoma. An initial size of 20 mm or larger was associated with substantial changes during follow-up (p = 0.016). Conclusions: While the majority of duodenal SELs may not exhibit substantial interval changes, regular follow-up with endoscopy may be necessary for cases with an initial size of 20 mm or larger, considering a possibility of malignancy.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
• /
• v.9 no.4
• /
• pp.177-185
• /
• 2009

Purpose: Preoperative clinical staging of gastric cancer is very important for determining the treatment plans and predicting the prognosis. The previous reports regarding the accuracy of computed tomography or endoscopic ultrasound for the preoperative staging of gastric cancer have shown various outcomes. We analyzed the diagnostic performance of CT and EUS, which are important staging tools for the staging of TN gastric cancer. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 1,174 patients who underwent gastrectomy for gastric cancer at Seoul National University Bundang Hostpital from May, 2003 to December, 2007. We derived the Kappa value to examine the agreement of the preoperative staging obtained from CT and EUS with the pathological staging. Results: The mean age of the 1,174 patients was $59.31{\pm}11.98$ years. Six hundred thirty seven patients had early gastric cancer and 536 had advanced gastric cancer. The diagnostic performance between CT and EUS for the T staging showed no significant difference between CT and EUS for the kappa values. The kappa values showed moderate agreement at 0.4039 (P=0.021) and 0.4201 (P=0.026), respectively. This suggests that there is no difference between the two examinations for the overall T staging. Analysis of the discrimination of mucosal and submucosal lesions with EUS showed an accuracy of 58.92% and a Kappa value of 0.206 (P<0.001), suggesting fair agreement and a lower diagnostic performance than expected. To differentiate lesions with stages higher than or equal to T2 or T3 from the lesion with stages lower than T2 or T3, respectively, adoption of the higher stage from the CT staging or the EUS staging showed a larger AUC of 0.84 than that from either stage alone. The CT-derived node stage had the higher diagnostic performance (68.55%) than that of the EUS-derived node stage (60.82%) for the node staging. Conclusion: The CT-derived stage and EUS-derived stage showed comparable results for determining the T stage of gastric cancer. Yet the higher stage of the two stages from CT and EUS most accurately discriminated between those lesions with stages higher than T2 and those lesions with stages lower than T2.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
• /
• v.5 no.1
• /
• pp.40-46
• /
• 2005

Purpose: Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are mesenchymal neoplasms of the gastrointestinal tract. GISTs are positive for the expression of c-Kit protein at immunohistochemistry, and their clinical presentations vary. This retrospective study was performed to evaluate the clincopathologic characteristics of GISTs and to define the prognostic factors. Materials and Methods: 40 patients who underwent a complete resection of a GIST during the period $1996\~2003$ at the Department of Surgery, Korea University College of Medicine, were studied. We divided them into low- and high-risk. groups by using tumor size and mitotic count: 23 cases were low risk, and 17 were high risk. Clinicopathologic features, immunohistochemical findings, and prognoses were compared between the low- and the high-risk groups. Results: The mean age of the 40 patients was $61.3\pm11.1$years, and the male-to-female ratio was 1：1.1. There was no significant difference in age and sex between the groups. A comparative analysis revealed tumor size, mitotic count, clinical symptoms, preoperative pathologic diagnosis, ulceration, and necrosis to be variables that had statistically significant differences between the high- and the low-risk groups. In the univariate analysis, tumor size, mitotic count, ulceration, necrosis, and abnormal endoscopic ultrasound findings were associated with disease-free survival, but in the multivariate analysis, mitotic activity was the only independent factor associated with disease-free survival. 8 patients had recurrences during the follow-up period, and four of them were treated with STI-571 (imatinib mesylate, $Gleevec^{(R)}$). The treated patients have survived until now; however, two of non-treated patients died from disease progression. Conclusion: Based on this study, tumor size, ulceration, and necrosis are significant factors affecting survival, and mitotic activity may be a useful prognostic marker. STI-571 may be used in an adjuvant setting because the drug has shown anticancer activity in patients with recurrence or metastasis.