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Biomedical subjects

H T Ng

Publications and source records attributed to H T Ng.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Whole-body PET with (fluorine-18)-2-deoxyglucose for detecting recurrent ovarian carcinoma. Initial report.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate positron emission tomography (PET) with (fluorine-18)-2-deoxyglucose (FDG) for detecting recurrent ovarian carcinoma. STUDY DESIGN: Wholebody FDG-PET scanning was performed on five patients before surgical exploration. All five patients were suspected of having recurrence based upon clinical findings and underwent surgery after scanning. RESULTS: In all five patients, PET images demonstrated increased FDG uptake in a distribution that correlated with surgical-pathologic findings (100%); computer tomography can detect 60% of such patients with malignant disease. Two cases with unexplained elevated serum CA-125 had lesions localized by PET. CONCLUSION: Recurrence of ovarian carcinoma was clearly imaged with FDG-PET and was confirmed by surgical pathology. FDG-PET might be a fairly effective tool for detecting recurrent ovarian carcinoma.

CA-125 Antigen↗

Accidentally delayed diagnosis of ruptured ovarian carcinoma in a young woman: a care report.

Ovarian carcinoma commonly occurs in postmenopausal women and often presents with an insidious course. Acute abdomen is rarely an initial symptom. When these patients present with abdominal discomfort, the disease has already spread throughout the peritoneal cavity. We present a case of mucinous cystadenocarcinoma in a young woman who presented with acute abdomen and intra-abdominal bleeding. This 24-year-old woman was previously diagnosed with a ruptured left ovarian cystic tumor at a primary clinic. She underwent emergency exploratory laparotomy, followed by unilateral salpingo-oophorectomy at the clinic. No thorough examination of the peritoneal cavity was done during surgery. The diagnosis of mucinous cystadenocarcinoma was accidentally over-looked until one month later when she returned for routine follow-up. Upon referral to our clinic, the patient underwent a repeat laparotomy. The surgicopathologic diagnosis was intraperitoneal carcinomatosis stage IIIC that could not be excised completely, even though rigorous staging surgery including washing cytology, total abdominal hysterectomy, salpingo-oophorectomy, retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy, appendectomy, infracolic omentectomy and excision of any suspicious and removable lesions were performed. This case alerts us to consider the possibility of ovarian malignancy when a young woman presents with an acute abdomen secondary to ruptured ovarian cystic tumor and intraperitoneal hemorrhage. Careful preoperative preparation and thorough intrasurgical examination of the peritoneal cavity along with a prompt pathologic diagnosis of suspicious lesions will prevent missed diagnoses.

Abdomen, Acute↗

Outcome of advanced primary fallopian tube adenocarcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Because of the rarity of primary fallopian tube adenocarcinoma (PFTA), the outcome of advanced primary fallopian tube carcinoma has not been fully evaluated, especially in Taiwan. METHODS: We retrospectively studied patients with proven surgicopathologic stage III PFTA. Thirteen patients from 1965 to 1995 were identified. All patients received standard staging surgery including washing cytology, total abdominal hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy, infracolic omentectomy and excisional biopsy of all suspicious lesions. This was followed by adjuvant chemotherapy with four to eight courses of CAP or CEP (cyclophosphamide 500 mg/m2, adriamycin 50 mg/m2, or epirubicin 50 mg/m2, and cisplatin 50 mg/m2 intravenously, every 3 weeks) regimen. RESULTS: The accumulative disease-free survival rate was 15%. The incidence of retroperitoneal lymph node metastases was high, up to 69%, and the incidence of para-aortic lymph node metastases was 62%. Eighty-five percent of the cases were poorly differentiated carcinoma. Optimal debulking surgery was completed in 62% of patients, contributing to long-term patient survival (25% vs 0%), compared with those without optimal debulking surgery. CONCLUSIONS: The prognosis of stage III PFTA in our study was poor. Careful lymph node dissection in the retroperitoneal space including the para-aortic area is required. Optimal debulking surgery plus postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy appears to be the only option for enhancing long-term disease-free survival.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Intracavitary cardiac tumor secondary to carcinoma of the cervix: a case report.

Carcinoma of the cervix spreading to the paracervical lymphatics is a common phenomenon followed by involvement of the para-aortic lymph nodes and subsequent distant metastases. The most common extranodal metastases sites are the lungs, followed by the liver and bones. The heart is an extremely rare metastatic target for carcinoma of the cervix. Furthermore, the majority of cardiac metastases involve the pericardium and endocardium and are particularly rare. We present the case of a 56-year-old woman with recurrent squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix who died after aggressive multimodality treatment including concurrent chemoradiotherapy and surgical intervention. The patient died suddenly and the autopsy showed disseminated carcinomatosis with portal vein, hepatic vein, inferior vena cava and right ventricular tumor emboli.

Carcinoma, Squamous Cell↗

Laparoscopic surgery for heterotopic pregnancies: a case report and a brief review.

A heterotopic pregnancy is in effect a multiple pregnancy with one or more intrauterine pregnancies coexisting with an ectopic pregnancy and is rarely spontaneous. With the increasing popularity of ovulation induction performed during assisted reproductive techniques, it will not be surprising to observe that this phenomenon has increased significantly. However, diagnosis is often delayed because of its rarity and difficulty. We report a case of a woman with a viable intrauterine pregnancy who had a complication of ovarian hyper-stimulation syndrome secondary to ovulation induction following in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer, but who, during hospitalization, presented with clinically progressive abdominal pain. An unruptured ectopic pregnancy of the right fallopian tube was diagnosed accidentally by laparoscopy and laparoscopic salpingectomy was immediately performed. Post-operative follow-up revealed that the intrauterine pregnancy continued normally. She delivered a normal female baby at 38 weeks of gestation. The promising neonatal outcome might suggest that laparoscopy might be safely performed to aid differential diagnosis in an uncertain condition during pregnancy: therefore, laparoscopic surgery might be an appropriate method to manage some carefully selected patients with HP. A brief review of the published literature on the role of laparoscopy in the diagnosis and management of heterotopic pregnancy is given.

Adult↗

Steroid cell tumors of the ovary: clinical, ultrasonic, and MRI diagnosis--a case report.

Steroid cell tumors of the ovary are rare sex-cord neoplasms which account for less than 0.1% of all ovarian tumors. They have been divided into two subtypes according to their cell of origin as follows: stromal luteoma, and Leydig cell tumors, and a third subtype with lineage unknown is a steroid cell tumor, not otherwise specified (NOS). The clinical presentation may take many forms, including pain, abdominal distention and bloating, but perhaps the most interesting and noticeable presentations are those related to the hormonal activity and virilizing properties of the tumor. No radiological features of the steroid cell tumor, NOS have been presented in the literature. This report presents the MRI and ultrasonographic findings of a patient having steroid cell tumor, NOS, of the right ovary with metastasis to the uterus.

Female↗

Elevated cytokeratin-19 expression associated with apoptotic resistance and malignant progression of human cervical carcinoma.

Cytokeratin-19 is an intermediate filament protein associated with the integrity of cell structure, and its elevated expression has been reported to correlate with the disease progression of oesophagus and lung cancers. In this study, we examined the level of cytokeratin-19 in five cervical cancer cell lines by immunobinding and Western blotting analyses. Compared with two control cell lines, FS-4 (foreskin cell line) and G9T (glioma cell line), all five cervical carcinoma cell lines (Caski, CC7T, ME180, HeLa and SIHA) showed higher cytokeratin-19 expression. By double-staining flow cytometry, expression of cytokeratin-19 in cervical cancer cells was suggested to be in a cell cycle-independent manner. Furthermore, we could specifically localize the SIHA cell-derived tumours in nude mice by injecting with cytokeratin-19-recognized radiolabelled MAb Cx-99 antibody, suggesting the possibility of using cytokeratin-19 as a marker of cervical carcinoma. A clinical investigation was therefore performed on 19 patients (11 patients with cervical carcinoma and eight patients with benign neoplasia). In the 11 patients having cervical carcinoma, all eight patients with advanced stages and one out of three patients with early stage diseases showed higher cytokeratin-19 protein contents than the other 10 patients with benign neoplasia. This suggested that elevation of cytokeratin-19 level was associated with cervical cancer staging. In addition, we have studied the biological significance of elevated cytokeratin-19 level in malignant cervical cancer. The apoptotic rate of cervical carcinoma cells in response to cisplatin was increased if their cellular cytokeratin-19 level was reduced by specific antibody MAb Cx-99. These results indicated that elevation of cytokeratin-19 expression could associate with the apoptotic resistance and malignant progression of cervical carcinoma.

Journal Article↗

Prognosis of primary fallopian tube adenocarcinoma: report of 25 patients.

PURPOSE OF INVESTIGATION: Because of the rarity of primary fallopian tube adenocarcinoma (PFTA), the optimal management has not been well-defined, especially in early-stage disease. Furthermore, prognosis of primary fallopian tube carcinoma has not been fully understood. METHODS: We retrospectively studied patients with proven surgico-pathological stage PFTA and excluded patients without a standard surgicopathological staging procedure. Twenty-five patients from 1970 to 1995 were identified. Eleven were in Stage I, four in Stage II and ten in Stage III and IV. Twenty patients received adjuvant chemotherapy with four to eight courses of CAP or CEP (cyclophosphamide 500 mg/m2, adriamycin 50 mg/m2 or epirubicin 50 mg/m2, and cisplatin 50 mg/m2 intravenously, every three weeks) regimen. One patient received two courses of chemotherapy and another received one course of chemotherapy; both followed with radiotherapy due to refusal of further chemotherapy. The remaining three patients did not receive any adjuvant therapy. RESULTS: Accumulative disease-free survival rate in spite of different st ages was 36%. Univariate analysis showed postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy, optimal debulking surgery, nulliparity, extent of the disease, and tumor differentiation as significant factors for disease-free survival of patients with PFTA. However, multivariate analysis did not show significance due to the small number of cases. CONCLUSION: Nearly half of the patients (44%) were diagnosed in early stage of PFTA, but patient survival was still disappointing. Understanding possibile risk factors for therapeutic failure and more aggressive and effective multi-modality treatments should be further defined.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Sperm head agglutination induced by V3 peptide does not occur through a CD4 receptor.

BACKGROUND: Although recent studies have shown that HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) can attach to sperm, the mechanism by which it does this is not yet understood. It has been shown that CD4 receptors on T4 cells are responsible for the binding of gp120 (glycoprotein 120) to HIV; however, the existence of CD4 receptors on sperm is controversial. The V3 peptide is part of gp120 and crucial for the syncytium formation by CD4 receptors. In this study we used an anti-CD4 antibody to block V3 peptide-induced sperm head agglutination in an attempt to gain a further understanding of the mechanism of HIV attachment to sperm. METHODS: Ten semen samples from 10 healthy men were studied. A sperm head fixation method (SHFM) was used to evaluate the blocking effect of anti-CD4 antibody (Q4120) of V3 peptide-induced sperm head agglutination in phosphate-buffered saline solution. RESULTS: While the sperm swam out of the micropipette, as occurs in SHFM, the V3 peptide induced an average of 53.2 +/- 10.8 (mean +/- SEM) head-to-head bound sperm (in the 10 semen samples. The sperm that had been preincubated with anti-CD4 antibody induced an average of 54.1 +/- 11.6 head-to-head bound sperm. There was no significant difference found between sperm that had been preincubated or not preincubated with anti-CD4 antibody, in terms of sperm head agglutination. CONCLUSIONS: The anti-CD4 antibody can block the binding of gp120 and CD4 positive T cells in a low concentration, but it did not block V3 peptide-induced sperm head agglutination. Therefore, V3 peptide-induced sperm head agglutination may not occur through a CD4 receptor.

Agglutination↗

Fever of unknown origin in the puerperium. A case report.

BACKGROUND: Postpartum fever is a common problem for obstetricians, but fever of unknown origin (FUO) occurring in the puerperium may be relatively unfamiliar and a challenge to the majority of obstetricians. CASE: A 29-year-old woman had a FUO detected during the puerperium. Despite serial examinations and therapeutic trials, the fever persisted for three weeks without a clinical improvement or definite infection source. The presence of a huge uterine myoma was observed. The patient finally underwent myomectomy, and a pathology review revealed a cellular leiomyoma associated with massive infarction and acute inflammation. The fever subsided substantially on the third day postoperatively. CONCLUSION: Although a uterine leiomyoma as a cause of fever in the puerperium is not new, rarely does it cause prolonged fever. It should be taken into consideration in pregnant women known to have uterine myomas during pregnancy and in the puerperium, especially if FUO develops. Nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs can be a tool for making the differential diagnosis in such a patient, and exploratory laparotomy can be delayed until an emergency condition occurred, especially important during pregnancy.

Adult↗

Ovarian surgery during pregnancy and puerperium: twelve-year experience at the Veterans General Hospital-Taipei.

BACKGROUND: This study was performed in order to assess the surgical effects and characteristics of ovarian tumors during pregnancy and analyze their prognosis. METHODS: Between 1982 and 1993, 121 patients who had undergone ovarian surgery during pregnancy or puerperium were reviewed at the Veterans General Hospital-Taipei. These patients were analyzed with particular emphasis on the length of gestation at the time of surgery, complications related to the stage of pregnancy, surgical and pathologic findings and the outcome of pregnancy. RESULTS: Ovarian tumors were commonly detected during the second trimester (54.5%) and most of them (79.3%) were asymptomatic. The pathologic review found 38 patients (31.4%) with benign teratoma, 16 patients (13.1%) with corpus luteum and four patients (3.3%) with malignancy. There was a significant difference between emergent ovarian surgery and elective ovarian surgery in the spontaneous fetal wastage rate (14.1% vs 1%, p = 0.009). Compared with elective surgery, cases necessitating oophorectomy, with or without salpingectomy, increased significantly during emergency surgery (57% vs 36%, p = 0.03). All ovarian surgeries performed before a gestational age of seven weeks resulted in spontaneous fetal wastage. CONCLUSIONS: Although the majority of the ovarian tumors detected during pregnancy were benign, emergency laparotomy was sometimes required, which led to an increase in the risk of a fetal wastage. Preconception counseling should be emphasized because early removal of non-functional ovarian tumor before conception, especially teratoma, would decrease the incidence of ovarian surgery during pregnancy. Furthermore, elective and well-prepared surgical intervention appears to be a crucial factor for favorable pregnancy outcome.

Adult↗

Delayed postpartum hemorrhage in adenomyosis: a case report.

Adenomyosis of the uterus is a serious problem for women of reproductive age because of its possible consequence of infertility. We present the case of a woman who had adenomyosis of the uterus, a successful spontaneous pregnancy, and delayed and tenacious postpartum hemorrhage that did not respond to conservative treatment. The 26-year-old woman, gravida 1, para 1, suffered from fulminating vaginal bleeding and associated shock 20 days after the delivery of a 3,450-g female by Cesarean section. Conservative treatment included uterine compression and massage, blood transfusion, intravenous administration of high-dosage estrogen, oxytocin and sulprostone (prostaglandin E analogue), and gauze packing from the vagina into the uterine cavity. Despite treatment, the patient went into shock due to persistent vaginal bleeding. Emergency exploratoric assessment laparotomy was performed, followed by a stotal hysterectomy. Pathology revealed extensive adenomyosis of the uterus without other significant abnormality. The potential dangers of adenomyosis in pregnancy should not be overlooked when patients seek treatment for infertility.

Adult↗

Color Doppler ultrasound velocimetry of internal carotid arteries in normal pregnancies.

BACKGROUND: There are few reports on maternal cerebral circulation during pregnancy. Using the hypothesis that cerebral blood flow resistance decreases progressively with advancing gestational age (GA) as a consequence of estrogenic effects on the vascular system during pregnancy, we calculated the pulsatility index (PI) and the mean velocity (MV) of the maternal right internal carotid artery (ICA) in order to build fitted reference centiles. METHODS: A total of 315 pregnant women with a single fetus were studied at 20-42 weeks' gestation. The patients had uncomplicated singleton pregnancies and were without any known fetal or maternal risk factors. Duplex color ultrasound with a pulsed Doppler scanner (7.5 MHz) was used to determine the PI and MV of the maternal ICA. RESULTS: Among the 315 healthy pregnant women, the PI of maternal ICA decreased progressively with advancing GA, PI50th = Exp (0.3124-0.0084 x GA), (p = 0.0003), during the second half of pregnancy. The predicted 50th percentile PI values of the ICA decreased from 1.117 (5th% = 0.755, 95th% = 1.654) at 24 weeks' gestation to 0.917 (5th% = 0.659, 95th% = 1.448) at 40 weeks' gestation. The MV of the maternal ICA also decreased progressively with advancing GA, MV50th = Exp (3.855-0.0093 x GA), (p = 0.0005), during the second half of pregnancy. The predicted 50th percentile MV values in the ICA decreased from 37.811 cm/sec (5th% = 24.177 cm/sec, 95th% = 59.138 cm/sec) at 24 weeks' gestation to 32.591 cm/sec (5th% = 20.818 cm/sec, 95th% = 51.021 cm/sec) at 40 weeks' gestation. CONCLUSIONS: Both the PI and MV of the maternal ICA decreased with GA during the second half of normal pregnancy as a result of intracerebral vessel dilatation.

Adult↗

Preoperative diagnosis of primary fallopian tube carcinoma by magnetic resonance imaging: a case report.

Because of the rarity and insidious onset of primary adenocarcinoma of the fallopian tube, early diagnosis is very difficult. Primary fallopian tube carcinoma is also rarely diagnosed preoperatively. This report reviews the value of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in aiding the detection of early-stage primary fallopian tube carcinoma in a 48-year-old female. The diagnosis was based on clinical suspicion, elevated CA-125 and MRI. MRI demonstrated the tumor as an area of solid masses with marked enhancement after gadolinium-diethylenetetraaminepentaacetic acid (Gd-DTPA) administration. Primary fallopian tube carcinoma was confirmed by pathologic examination. We hope that, with improvements in imaging, early diagnosis of such a malignant disease could become routinely possible in the future.

Fallopian Tube Neoplasms↗

Human papillomavirus, cytomegalovirus and herpes simplex virus infections for cervical cancer in Taiwan.

Previously, we had reviewed 43 cases of invasive cancers, adenosquamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma for HPV type infections. With the same cases we extended the investigation to cytomegalovirus (CMV) and herpes simplex virus (HSV) infections. Results show that the prevalence of CMV and HSV infections from these cases of cervical carcinoma was 67 and 76%, respectively, by polymerase chain reaction. The results of the analysis of the association of HPV, CMV and HSV with various clinical characteristics of cervical cancer patients indicated that the correlation between HSV infections and clinical stages of squamous carcinoma was marginally significant (P = 0.068). HSV infections seemed to have a higher association with cell keratinization pattern as compared with the other two viral infections.

Carcinoma, Squamous Cell↗

Genomic deletion and p53 inactivation in cervical carcinoma.

The tumor-suppressor gene p53 acts as "the guardian of the genome", sensing DNA damage and initiating protective responses. To examine the hypothesis that p53 abnormality leads to increased genomic alterations in primary tumor cells, our study utilized 51 primary tumors of cervical carcinoma and 10 microsatellite markers. These markers were mapped to the short arms of chromosomes 3 and 5, covering the regions 3p13-25 and 5p15.1-15.3. Genomic deletion on 3p and 5p was correlated with genetic or epigenetic p53 inactivation pathways, including p53 mutation, genetic deletion of p53 and cervical infection with human papillomavirus. The proportion of abnormal p53 was found to be significantly higher in the cases exhibiting loss of heterozygosity (LOH) on 5p (p < 0.001), supporting the hypothesis of the presence of a p53-dependent pathway to cervical tumorigenesis. In contrast, however, LOH on 3p was found to be independent of p53 inactivation. A common deletion region, 3p22-24, was identified in 44% of informative cases, and genomic loss at this specific region was correlated with early tumorigenic onset and poor grade of tumor differentiation. Diversity within the patterns of genomic alteration in the same form of cancer suggests different sets of risk/tumorigenic profiles, molecular pathogenesis, as well as prognosis and outcome.

Adult↗

Port site metastasis after laparoscopic-assisted vaginal hysterectomy for endometrial cancer: possible mechanisms and prevention.

Only 19 cases of metastases at the cannula insertion site after laparoscopy for gynecological malignancy have been reported in the literature. One case has been diagnosed with cervical squamous cell carcinoma, whereas the others have been diagnosed with ovarian cancer and borderline ovarian tumor. We present a novel case of laparoscopy-site abdominal wall metastasis from endometrial cancer after laparoscopic-assisted vaginal hysterectomy (LAVH). The 56-year-old female patient exhibited metastases of an abdominal wall trocar site and a perineal site after undergoing LAVH and laparoscopic-assisted (LA) bilateral pelvic lymph node sampling as well as LA para-aortic lymph node sampling for treating endometrial carcinoma, surgical staging IIIC, G3. The interval between the surgical extirpation of endometrial carcinoma and diagnosis of the tumor recurrence was 6 months, suggesting that overmanipulation of the diseased organ during laparoscopic surgery may have resulted in tumor spillage, intraperitoneal dissemination, and wound contamination. Although this procedure has been proven beneficial to patients with benign disease or early-stage gynecologic malignancies, laparoscopic-assisted vaginal hysterectomy may not be efficacious to eradicate advanced gynecological malignancy.

Abdominal Muscles↗