• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.58 no.2
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• pp.73-76
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• 2015

Isolated sphenoid sinusitis is a rare disease in children, and its symptoms are often nonspecific and confusing. Rarely, severe headache can be the first or only symptom of isolated sphenoid sinusitis. New daily persistent headache (NDPH) is a form of chronic daily headache that may have features of both migraines and tension-type headaches. NDPH is difficult to diagnose and requires a multifaceted approach. Here, we report on a 10-year-old boy and an 11-year-old girl who both presented with typical NDPH symptoms. These patients had no nasal symptoms or signs of infection. Neither nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs nor topiramate had any effect on the headaches. Their neurological and ophthalmological examinations were normal. The results of routine blood work, including thyroid function tests, inflammatory markers, complete blood count, tests for viral infection, and a metabolic panel, were normal. A brain magnetic resonance imaging scan showed isolated sphenoid sinusitis. Both patients' symptoms resolved completely after approximately 1 month of oral antibiotics for sinusitis.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.34-38
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• 2002

Positron emission tomography(PET) is an imaging method that employs radionuclide and tomography techniques. Since 1995, we applied PET not only to the diagnosis of breast cancer but also to the detection of abnormalities in the augmented breast and to the detection of metastasis. Until 2001, we evaluated 242 breast cases by PET at PET center of Seoul National University Hospital. Our group has reported serially at the international journals. In the first report, PET showed high sensitivity for detecting breast cancer, both the primary and axillary node metastasis. A total of 27 patients underwent breast operations based on PET results at Seoul National University Hospital from 1995 to 1996. The diagnostic accuracy of PET were 97% for the primary tumor mass and 96% for axillary lymph node metastasis. In case of the breast augmented, PET also showed excellent diagnostic results for primary breast cancer and axillary lymph node metastasis where mammography and ultrasound could not diagnose properly. PET also had outstanding results in the detection of recurrent or metastatic breast cancer(sensitivity 94%, specificity 80%, accuracy 89%). In addition, our study gave some evidence that PET could be applied further to evaluate the growth rate of tumors by measuring SUV, and finally to prognosticated the disease. PET could also be applied to evaluate the response after chemotherapy to measure its metabolic rate and size. In conclsion, PET is a highly sensitive, accurate diagnostic tool for breast cancer of primary lesion in various conditions including metastasis.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.42 no.sup1
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• pp.172-176
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• 2008

FDG PET has been used as a diagnostic tool for localization of seizure focus for last 2-3 decades. In this article, the clinical usefulness of FDG PET in the management of patients with epilepsy has been reviewed, which provided the evidences to justify the medicare reimbursement for FDG PET in management of patients with epilepsy. Literature review demonstrated that FDG PET provides an important information in localization of seizure focus and determination whether a patients is a surgical candidate or not. FDG PET has been reported to have high diagnostic performance in localization of seizure focus in neocortical epilepsy as well as temporal lobe epilepsy regardless of the presence of structural lesion on MRI. Particularly, FDG PET can provide the additional information when the results from standard diagnositic modality such as interictal or video-monitored EEG, and MRI are inconclusive or discordant, and make to avoid invasive study. Furthermore, the presence of hypometabolism and extent of metabolic extent has been reported as an important predictor for seizure free outcome. However, studies suggested that more accurate localization and better surgical outcome could be expected with multimodal approach by combination of EEG, MRI, and functional studies using FDG PET or perfusion SPECT rather than using a single diagnostic modality in management of patients with epilepsy. Complementary use of FDG PET in management of epilepsy is worth for good surgical outcome in epilepsy patients.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2014

Aerobic glycolysis has been the most important hypothesis in cancer metabolism. It seems to be related to increased bioenergetic and biosynthetic needs in rapidly proliferating cancer cells. To this end, F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG), a glucose analog, became widely popular for the detection of malignancies combined with positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT). Although the potential roles of FDG PET/CT in primary tumor detection are not fully established, it seems to have a limited sensitivity in detecting early gastric cancer and mainly signet ring or non-solid types of advanced gastric cancer. In evaluating lymph node metastases, the location of lymph nodes and the degree of FDG uptake in primary tumors appear to be important factors affecting the diagnostic accuracy of PET/CT. In spite of the limited sensitivity, the high specificity of PET/CT for lymph node metastases may play an important role in changing the extent of lymphadenectomy or reducing futile laparotomies. For peritoneal metastases, PET/CT seems to have a poorer sensitivity but a better specificity than CT. The roles of PET/CT in the evaluation of other distant metastases are yet to be known. Studies including primary tumors with low FDG uptake or peritoneal recurrence seem suffer from poorer diagnostic performance for the detection of recurrent gastric cancer. There are only a few reports using FDG PET/CT to predict response to neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy. A complete metabolic response seems to be predictive of more favorable prognosis.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.414-417
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• 2007

A 52-year-old woman with hypertension and moyamoya disease presented with chronic subdural hematoma [CSDH]. The presumed cause of bleeding was ascribed to administrated antiplatelet agents. She responded slowy and clumsily to verbal commands and had right arm weakness. After surgery, her clinical condition improved. But two days after surgery, her symptoms became aggravated and a convulsive seizure was noted within 24 hours. Brain magnetic resonance imaging showed no organic lesion except a small amount of residual CSDH. In addition, there was no laboratory evidence of metabolic brain disease. Moreover, after the administration of an antiepileptic drug [phenytoin], her manifestations disappeared. Therefore, the authors presume that her symptoms were resulted from nonconvulsive status epilepticus [NCSE], despite a lack of ictal period electroencephalographic findings. The authors were unable to find a single case report on postoperative NCSE in Korea. Therefore, the authors report this case of nonconvulsive status epilepticus after drainage of a CSDH in a patient with moyamoya disease.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.62 no.4
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• pp.144-147
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• 2019

The most common type of refractory hypertension found in children is secondary hypertension, which is a potentially curable disease. Reninoma, a renin-secreting juxtaglomerular cell tumor, is a rare cause of severe hypertension that is usually diagnosed in adolescents and young adults. Surgical resection of the tumor completely cures the hypertension of patients with reninoma. The typical clinical presentation of reninoma includes hypokalemia, metabolic alkalosis, and features secondary to the increased activation of the renin-angiotensin system without renal artery stenosis. We report a case of reninoma in a female adolescent with a typical clinical presentation, in which surgical removal of the tumor completely cured hypertension. We discuss here the clinical features, imaging studies, and immunohistochemical examination of the tumor used to establish the diagnosis of reninoma and for the management of the condition.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.137-141
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• 2021

Genetic causes of developmental and epileptic encephalopathy (DEE) have been rapidly uncovered from mid-2010s. The mutations of gene enconding calcium channel, voltage-dependent, P/Q type, alpha 1A subunit (CACNA1A) are recently detected in DEE, which gene is already known well in familial hemiplegic migrine type 1 or episodic ataxia type 2. Ketogenic diet therapy (KDT) is effective in some DEE, which data is short in CACNA1A encephalopathy. A 3-month-old male with global developmental delay and multidrug-resistant focal seizures was diagnosed as epilepsy of infancy with migrating focal seizures (EIMFS). Brain magnetic resonance imaging and metabolic screening were all normal. Whole exome sequencing revealed two variants of CACNA1A: c.899A>C, and c.2808del that is from his mother. His seizures disappeared within 3 days whenever on KDT, which recurred without it. To our knowledge, this rare case of EIMFS with novel mutations of CACNA1A, is the first report in CACNA1A encephalopathy becoming seizure-free on KDT.

• Archives of Obesity and Metabolism
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.25-28
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• 2023

Early evaluation of obesity is important. Obesity is defined as an excessive accumulation of fat that causes harm to health. Among patients who visit a hospital for weight-related issues, diseases other than body fat gain may be present; however, people often cannot distinguish between these issues and concerns. Therefore, among patients who visit the hospital with weight gain concerns, it is necessary to determine whether the weight gain is actually the result of excessive fat accumulation. After being diagnosed with obesity, the cause and degree of obesity, the amount and distribution of body fat, and the degree of risk should be evaluated. Additionally, obesity-related complications should be identified and, even if there are no complications, all related risk factors should be evaluated and managed. In all these processes, diagnostic methods such as history taking, physical examination, body fat measurement, blood tests, and imaging tests are necessary, but history taking and physical examination, which can provide a lot of information from the beginning, should not be overlooked.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.36-40
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• 2024

Mitochondrial encephalomyopathy, lactic acidosis, and stroke-like episode (MELAS) syndrome is a maternally inherited mitochondrial disorder that usually affects the cerebral cortex and prevents high-energy demands from being met. Herein, we present the case of a male patient who rapidly developed multiple seizures, headaches, and altered mentality accompanied by severe metabolic acidosis and lactic acidosis. Initially, a brain imaging study confirmed stroke-like lesions (SLLs) only in the cerebellum. During follow-up, newly developed SLLs with lactic acidosis were observed in the basal ganglia (BG), cerebellum, and occipital lobe. The m.3243A>G variant had been found in the patient and MELAS was diagnosed, despite the BG and cerebellum being atypical locations for SLLs in MELAS. Since most cases of m.3243A>G variant MELAS show SLLs in the cerebral cortex, this case is unusual considering the location of the lesion. We emphasize that in the case of lactic acidosis accompanied by neurological symptoms, such as seizures, as in this case, MELAS should be included in the differential diagnosis, even if SLLs are observed in areas other than the cerebral cortex.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.299-314
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• 1996

The purpose of the present study was to validate the use of tissue radioactivity ratios instead of regional metabolic rates for the assessment of regional metabolic changes in Alzheimer's disease(AD) with [$^{18}F$]FDG PET and to examine the correlation of ratio indices with the severity of cognitive impairment in AD. Thirty-seven AD Patients(age $68{\pm}9 yrs$, $mean{\pm}s.d.$; 36 probable and 1 definite AD), 28 patients with dementia of non-Alzheimer type(age $66{\pm}7 yrs$), and 17 healthy controls(age $66{\pm}4 yrs$) underwent [$^{18}F$]FDG PET imaging. Two simplified radioactivity ratio indices were calculated from 37-66 min image: region-to-cerebellar radioactivity ratio(RCR) and a composite radioactivity ratio(a ratio of radioactivity in the most typically affected regions over the least typically affected regions: CRR). Local cerebral metabolic rate for glucose(LCMRglu) was also measured using a three-compartment, five-parameter tracer kinetic model. The ratio indices were significantly lower in AD patients than in controls(RCR in temporoparietal cortex, $0.949{\pm}0.136$ vs. $1.238{\pm}0.129$, p=0.0004; RCR in frontal cortex, $1.027{\pm}0.128$ vs. $1.361{\pm}0.151$, p<0.0001; CRR, $0.886{\pm}0.096$ vs. $1.032{\pm}0.042$. p=0.0024). On the RCR analysis, 86% of AD patients showed a pattern of bilateral temporoparietal hypometabolism with or without frontal involvement; hypometabolism was unilateral in 11% of the patients. When bilateral temporoparietal hypometabolism was considered to be suggestive of AD, the sensitivity and specificity of the RCR analysis for the differential diagnosis of AD were 86% and 73%, respectively. The RCR was correlated significantly with the macroparameter K [$K_1k_3/(k_2+k_3)$] (r=0.775, p<0.0001) and LCMRglu(r=0.633, p=0.0002) measured using the kinetic model. In patients with AD, both average RCR of cortical association areas and CRR were correlated with Mini-Mental Status Examination(r=0.565, p=0.0145; r=0.642, p=0.0031, respectively), Clinical Dementia Rating(r=-0.576, p=0.0124; r=-0.591, p=0.0077), and total score of Mattis Dementia Rating Scale (r=0.574, p=0.0648; r=0.737, p=0.0096). There were also significant correlations between memory and language impairments and corresponding regional RCRs. The results suggest that the [$^{18}F$]FDG PET ratio indices, RCR and CRR, reflect global and regional metabolic rates and correlate with the severity of cognitive impairment in AD. The simplified ratio analysis may be clinically useful for the differential diagnosis and serial monitoring of the disease.