Acute Eosinophilic Appendicitis: A Rare Cause of Lower Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage / 대한소화기학회지

Acute eosinophilic appendicitis (AEA) is defined as eosinophilic infiltration of the muscular layer of the appendix instead of neutrophils.The symptoms of this disease are similar to those of acute suppurative appendicitis. On the other hand, it can present as a lower gastrointestinal hemorrhage. This paper reports a case of an elderly man with an appendiceal hemorrhage due to AEA. The diagnosis was made by colonoscopy during an evaluation of hematochezia. The patient underwent a laparoscopic partial cecectomy. The histology findings revealed ulceration and marked eosinophilic infiltration of the muscularis propria of the appendix with accompanying edema. Although appendiceal hemorrhage due to AEA is extremely rare, clinicians should consider it in a differential diagnosis.

Acute Eosinophilic Appendicitis: A Rare Cause of Lower Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage / 대한소화기학회지

Acute eosinophilic appendicitis (AEA) is defined as eosinophilic infiltration of the muscular layer of the appendix instead of neutrophils.The symptoms of this disease are similar to those of acute suppurative appendicitis. On the other hand, it can present as a lower gastrointestinal hemorrhage. This paper reports a case of an elderly man with an appendiceal hemorrhage due to AEA. The diagnosis was made by colonoscopy during an evaluation of hematochezia. The patient underwent a laparoscopic partial cecectomy. The histology findings revealed ulceration and marked eosinophilic infiltration of the muscularis propria of the appendix with accompanying edema. Although appendiceal hemorrhage due to AEA is extremely rare, clinicians should consider it in a differential diagnosis.

Low-grade Endometrial Stromal Sarcoma Presenting as a Sigmoid Mass / 대한소화기학회지

Low-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma (LG-ESS) is a very rare mesenchymal neoplasm of the uterus. LG-ESS can recur or metastasize to extrauterine sites, such as the pelvis, peritoneal cavity, and vagina, but rarely to the lung, liver, heart, bone, and colon. A 42-year-old female patient was transferred from an outside clinic for an evaluation of constipation. EUS revealed a 5 cm hypoechoic lesion with a regular margin, probably arising from the 4th layer (muscular propria) at the sigmoid colon level. CT revealed a 7-cm homogenous enhancing mass lesion at the pelvic cavity and multiple enlarged lymph nodes in the sigmoid mesocolon.The patient underwent an anterior resection, and the diagnosis based on the biopsy result was LG-ESS. After a multidisciplinary discussion, she underwent a bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. Small nodules found in the endometrium were identified as LG-ESS by a biopsy. This paper reports a case of metastatic LG-ESS presenting as a solitary sigmoid tumor without intrauterine lesions through preoperative examinations and discusses the characteristics of this neoplasm with reference to the relevant literature.

Low-grade Endometrial Stromal Sarcoma Presenting as a Sigmoid Mass / 대한소화기학회지

Low-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma (LG-ESS) is a very rare mesenchymal neoplasm of the uterus. LG-ESS can recur or metastasize to extrauterine sites, such as the pelvis, peritoneal cavity, and vagina, but rarely to the lung, liver, heart, bone, and colon. A 42-year-old female patient was transferred from an outside clinic for an evaluation of constipation. EUS revealed a 5 cm hypoechoic lesion with a regular margin, probably arising from the 4th layer (muscular propria) at the sigmoid colon level. CT revealed a 7-cm homogenous enhancing mass lesion at the pelvic cavity and multiple enlarged lymph nodes in the sigmoid mesocolon.The patient underwent an anterior resection, and the diagnosis based on the biopsy result was LG-ESS. After a multidisciplinary discussion, she underwent a bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. Small nodules found in the endometrium were identified as LG-ESS by a biopsy. This paper reports a case of metastatic LG-ESS presenting as a solitary sigmoid tumor without intrauterine lesions through preoperative examinations and discusses the characteristics of this neoplasm with reference to the relevant literature.

A Study on the Effectiveness of Community-Based Case Management Program for the First Episode Psychosis / 신경정신의학

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to make empirical evidence for a community based case management program for the first episode of psychosis. METHODS: We provided a case management program for first episode psychosis patients and assessed their symptoms, function, insight, and satisfaction using Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the Health of Nation Outcomes Scales (HoNOS), Scale to assess Unawareness of Mental Disorder (SUMD), Global Assessment of Functioning Scales (GAF), and Quality of Life scales (QOL) at baseline and after the program. We also evaluated the treatment maintenance rate and the changes of their developmental task achievement. RESULTS: Significant improvement was observed in all sub-domains of PANSS and significant changes were also observed in the areas of symptoms and function of HoNOS. Significant improvement was observed in awareness of mental illness itself and its outcomes. The treatment maintenance rate was 87.5%, including three patients who stopped their medication with the doctor's order. The rate of participation in meaningful social activities, such as school or job showed an increase, from 25% at baseline to 81% after the program. CONCLUSION: Results of this study demonstrate the possibility of community programs for prevention of relapse, improvement of symptoms and function, and facilitation of return to meaningful social activities of first episode psychosis patients.

The Analysis of Community-Based Identification, Assessment and Allocation System for Early Psychosis / 대한정신분열병학회지

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to make empirical evidence of community based detection, assessment and allocation system for early psychosis. METHODS: We analysed 222 youths who were referred to Seoul Early Management and Improvement Services (SEMIS) for early psychosis during six years from 2007 to 2012. RESULTS: 44% of referrals were from suicide hotline, 23% from web-based SEMIS assessment program, 20% from other service areas such as military services and 11% were self referred. Among 222 youths, 139 (62.6%) were completed Structured Interview for Prodromal Syndrome (SIPS). After SIPS, 23% had untreated or early psychosis, another 17% were found to be at high risk of psychosis and 18% of completed SIPS were found to have other mental illness such as depression, yielding an efficiency ratio of 58%. 70% of youths who were categorized as psychosis or high risk of psychosis or other mental illness were referred to psychiatric hospital or case management services. CONCLUSION: This study shows the effectiveness and limitations of community-based assessment and intervention system for early psychosis. Integrated community program is necessary to improve the efficiency of early intervention and for the better outcomes.

Postoperative Pain Relief Using Wound Infiltration With 0.5% Bupivacaine in Single-Incision Laparoscopic Surgery for an Appendectomy

PURPOSE: Recently, single-incision laparoscopic surgery (SILS) has been popular for minimally invasive surgery and cosmetic improvement. However, some papers have reported that SILS for an appendectomy (SILS-A) has had the more postoperative complaints of pain. We investigated postoperative pain relief using wound infiltration with 0.5% bupivacaine in SILS-A and compared the result with that for conventional SILS-A. METHODS: Between July 2010 and September 2012, 75 patients who underwent SILS-A were enrolled in this study. The patients were randomly assigned to two groups: conventional SILS-A group (C-SILS-A) or wound infiltrated with 0.5% bupivacaine in SILS-A group (W-SILS-A). Forty-five patients were in the C-SILS-A, and 30 patients were in the W-SILS-A. Patients with perforated appendicitis were excluded. The clinical outcomes were compared between the groups by using the verbal numerical rating scale (VNRS). RESULTS: Clinical outcomes were similar in both study groups except for the pain score. The W-SILS-A group showed significantly lower numbers of additional pain killers and lower VNRS scores 1, 6, and 12 hours after surgery than the C-SILS-A group. CONCLUSION: W-SILS-A is a technically simple and effective method of reducing early postoperative pain. It may be applicable in SILS-A for pain control system.