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Background/Aims: A subset of patients may develop colorectal cancer after a colonoscopy that was negative for carcinoma. These missed or de novo developed lesions were termed as interval cancers. Many studies regarding interval cancer have been conducted in Western countries, whereas very limited data are available in Asian populations. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate prevalence, clinicopathologic features, and predictors of interval colorectal cancers in the Korean population. Methods: Interval cancer was defined as a cancer that is diagnosed within 5 years of a negative colonoscopy result. Among the patients who were diagnosed colorectal cancers at Kangbuk Samsung Hospital from January 2007 to April 2012, clinicopathologic characteristics of interval cancers were compared with those of sporadic cancers. Results: Among the 785 patients, 482 responded to telephone calls. Of these, 30 (6.2%) developed interval cancers. Finally, 28 patients who had interval cancers were compared with 415 patients who had sporadic cancers. Interval cancer group was significantly younger and more frequent in the right side colon than sporadic cancer group. There was no differences in sex, tumor size, differentiation, and staging between two groups. In multivariate analysis, young age and right side colon cancer were independent factors associated with an interval cancer. Conclusions: A significant proportion of Korean patients developed interval colorectal cancer, especially at the young age and in the proximal colon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aims: Western studies recently reported that patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are exposed to di- agnostic radiation at potentially harmful levels. There is little research, however, on exposure to diagnostic radiation in patients with IBD in Asian areas. The present study assessed cumulative radiation exposure dose in patients with IBD who were treated at a single-tertiary medical center in Korea and analyzed the factors that increased the exposure dose. Methods: Retrospective investigation was performed of the medical records of the patients who were followed up for 1 year or more in a period from January 2003 through November 2011 at Kangbuk Samsung Hospital. Results: Included in the study were 202 patients with IBD: 80 (39.6%) had Crohn's disease (CD) and 122 (60.4%) had ulcerative colitis (UC). The mean follow-up period was 4.2±2.5 years for CD and 4.3±1.4 years for UC. The mean culmulative effective dose (CED) for CD and UC were 39.7 and 11.0 mSv respectively (P<0.001). In CD, factors associated with increased CED were surgery, history of intravenous steroid treatment, and structuring or penetrating disease. Conclusions: A substantial proportion of IBD patients, especially CD patients, were exposed to significantly harmful amounts of diagnostic radiation, mainly due to computed tomography examination. Efforts should be made to reduced diagnostic medical radiation, especially in patients at risk for increased radiation exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aims: Conflicting data have been reported about the seasonal variation in flare-up of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The aim of this study was to assess the occurrence of seasonal variations in flare-up of IBD in the Korean population. Methods: Patients with IBD, who underwent more than 1 year of follow-up and showed more than 1 episode of flare-up, were included. Flares of disease were refined as follows; receipt of a new prescription and increasing dose of corticosteroids, 5-ASA or immunosuppressant; hospitalized or operated due to development and worsening of symptoms; elevation of inflammatory marker due to worsening of Crohn's Disease Activity Index (CDAI) or Mayo score. In addition, for patients with more than two episodes of flare-up, they were investigated in a monthly and seasonal pattern. Results: Of 573 patients with IBD, 46 patients with Crohn's disease and 61 patients with ulcerative colitis were enrolled. There was no association between month of the year and flare of Crohn's disease (P=0.06) or ulcerative colitis (P=0.58). Further, no association between season of the year and flare of Crohn's disease (P=0.06) or ulcerative colitis (P=0.68). However, in Crohn's disease who experience 2 or more flare-ups, symptoms occurred more frequently during winter, especially December (P=0.029). Conclusions: In the Korean population, there was no association of seasonal and monthly variation in flares of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. However, in Crohn's disease, individuals with 2 flar-up or more, symptoms occurred more frequently during December. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]