Yonsei medical journal
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Yonsei medical journal · Oct 2009
ReviewChallenge and hope in radiotherapy of hepatocellular carcinoma.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most critical global health issues. With frequent association of viral liver disease, HCC is highly complex, harboring both cancer and chronic liver disease. The tumor stage and underlying liver function are both major determinants of the treatment selection as well as prognosis in HCC patients, thus allowing no more than a 20% chance for potentially curative therapies. ⋯ Also, many issues such as the optimal dose-fractionation, intra- or extrahepatic metastasis after radiotherapy, and radiation-induced hepatic dysfunction remain to be solved. In this review, current status of radiotherapy for HCC will be discussed with regard to technical consideration and combination strategy. The limitation and future perspectives will also be discussed.
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The role of local excision in treating rectal cancer patients continues to be controversial. The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term oncological results of local excision for early rectal adenocarcinomas and review the outcomes of salvage therapy on rectal cancer patients. ⋯ Local excision alone of early-staged rectal adenocarcinomas, even in the ideal candidate, is followed by a relatively higher local recurrence rate than previously reported and may not be a valid modality. Either the use of adjuvant therapy with local excision, even in patients with T1 lesions or the use of preoperative therapy followed by local excision has good promise.
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Yonsei medical journal · Oct 2009
Comparative StudySeverity staging of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: differences in pre- and post-bronchodilator spirometry.
The Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) guidelines for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) uses the post-bronchodilator spirometry for diagnosis and severity staging. We evaluated differences in the severity classification of COPD, based on pre- and post-bronchodilator spirometry. ⋯ Our data suggest that the severity staging of COPD using pre-BDT spirometry might lead to significant differences as compared to staging, based on post-BDT spirometry, as recommended by the current GOLD guidelines.
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Yonsei medical journal · Oct 2009
Relationship of facet tropism with degeneration and stability of functional spinal unit.
The authors investigated the effect of lumbar facet tropism (FT) on intervertebral disc degeneration (DD), facet joint degeneration (FJD), and segmental translational motion. ⋯ No significant correlation was observed between lumbar FT and DD or translational segmental motion. However, FT was shown to be associated significantly with the presence of high grades of FJD at L4-L5. This suggests that at active sites of segmental motion, FT may predispose to the development of facet joint degeneration.
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The clinical features of patients with celiac disease (CD) are variable. In the present study, clinical and laboratory features of 109 patients with CD were retrospectively evaluated. ⋯ Although classical CD was seen in most patients in the present study, clinical variability of the condition should be kept in mind.