Journal of Korean medical science
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Apr 2000
Clinical TrialCT-guided celiac plexus block for intractable abdominal pain.
Treatment of intractable abdominal pain due to inoperable intraabdominal malignancy is important, and the ineffectiveness of pharmacological agents has led many investigators to recommend chemical neurolysis of the celiac ganglions as a treatment. The author describes the technique and results of celiac plexus neurolysis under CT-guidance with various approach routes, including anterior, posterior and transaortic routes. Twenty-eight patients, ranging in age from 36 to 82 years, have been treated with this procedure. ⋯ Mild hypotension occurred in five patients (18%) and transient diarrhea in six patients (21%). Twenty-one (75%) of the 28 patients had some relief of pain and 17 of these patients (61%) had good relief of pain after the procedure. The results support that CT-guided celiac plexus block with alcohol is a safe and effective means of pain control in patients with intraabdominal malignancy.
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Apr 2000
Case ReportsMyelomatous effusion with poor response to chemotherapy.
While pleural effusion in multiple myeloma is relatively infrequent, myelomatous pleural effusion is extremely rare. We experienced a 61-year-old woman with IgD-lambda multiple myeloma and pleural effusion. ⋯ Two months later, myelomatous pleural effusion recurred and no response to salvage therapy was observed. We reviewed the clinical feature of this case and literature concerning myelomatous pleural effusion.
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Apr 2000
HFE gene mutation, C282Y causing hereditary hemochromatosis in Caucasian is extremely rare in Korean population.
Hereditary hemochromatosis (HFE), which affects 1 in 400 and has an estimated carrier frequency of 1 in 10 individuals in Western population, results in multiple organ damage caused by iron deposition, and is treatable if detected early. C282Y mutation in HFE gene has been known to be responsible for the most hereditary hemochromatosis cases and 5-10% of white subjects are heterozygous for this mutation. ⋯ Results revealed that none of them had the mutant gene, suggesting a significant ethnic difference when compared with Caucasians. Our study excluded underlying possibility of hereditary hemochromatosis in Korean which could mimic the findings of alcoholic liver disease with iron overload or liver cirrhosis with chronic hepatitis C.