No abstract available.
Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; Humans ; Scedosporium ; Skin

No abstract available.
Tendinopathy

The ocular manifestations of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are common and they can vary from patient to patient. However, necrotizing anterior scleritis without inflammation (scleromalacia perforans) is a rare and serious opthalmic complication, and it is typically associated with long-standing RA. Although the etiology and pathogenesis of scleromalacia perforans are diverse and they are not completely understood, ophthalmic surgery is one of the well known causes of scleromalacia perforans. Patients with systemic autoimmune disease such as RA have an especially higher risk of scleromalacia perforans after opthalmic surgery. Because scleromalacia perforans is a potential threat not just to eyesight, but to life as well, early diagnosis and prompt treatment are required for its successful management. We experienced a case of scleromalacia perforans that developed after scleral excision of pterygium in a 58 year old woman who had a 7 year history of RA, and this was well treated with an early screral graft. We report here on this case along with a review of the relevant literature.
Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; Autoimmune Diseases ; Early Diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Polyenes ; Pterygium ; Scleritis ; Transplants

Ankylosing spondylitis is a disease that shows a young age of onset (less than 40 years old), inflammatory back pain, sacroiliitis and a strong association with HLA-B27. Yet some recently reported cases have presented with a late age of onset (more than 55 years old), atypical clinical presentations and a low response to NSAIDs, and this has also been named late onset spondyloarthropathy (LOSPA). As compared with early onset spondyloarthropathy (EOSPA), the LOSPA patients more frequently suffer with combined peripheral arthritis and inflammatory systemic symptoms and a high ESR and CRP level, but they lack the typical axial symptoms. Yet there have been few reports about late onset ankylosing spondylitis (LOAS). The previous cases of LOSPA and LOAS were managed with NSAIDs, steroids, methotrexate and sulfasalazine, but none were managed with TNF antagonists. LOAS is rare and difficult for management because of the patients' older age and the lack of experiences with this malady, so we report here on the four cases of LOAS that were successfully treated by TNF antagonists.
Age of Onset ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal ; Arthritis ; Back Pain ; HLA-B27 Antigen ; Humans ; Loa ; Methotrexate ; Sacroiliitis ; Spondylarthropathies ; Spondylitis, Ankylosing ; Steroids ; Sulfasalazine

Back pain is the most common symptom of ankylosing spondylitis (AS). The aggravation of back pain in AS patients is usually thought to be a flare-up of the disease activity. We report here on the case of a 31-year-old AS patient with low back pain. The lesions of this patient were unexpectedly diagnosed as metastatic spinal tumor due to cholangiocarcinoma. In a patient with AS, an acute aggravation of low back pain may be due to other pathologic conditions such as osteoporotic vertebral fracture, vertebral discitis and metastatic bone disease. Therefore, when a patient with AS presents with nonspecific low back pain, a physician should consider the above mentioned conditions.
Adult ; Back Pain ; Bone Diseases ; Cholangiocarcinoma ; Discitis ; Humans ; Low Back Pain ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Spondylitis, Ankylosing

Dermatomyositis is a distinctive entity that is identified by a characteristic rash that accompanies or more often precedes proximal muscle weakness. There is a well recognized association between dermatomyositis and several cancers, such as ovarian cancer, lung cancer, pancreas cancer, stomach cancer and colorectal cancers and non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. But dermatomyositis associated with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma has not yet been reported in Korea. We experienced a case of dermatomyositis associated with infiltrative intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma and we report on this unusual case along with reviewing the related literature.
Cholangiocarcinoma ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; Dermatomyositis ; Exanthema ; Korea ; Liver Neoplasms ; Lung Neoplasms ; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin ; Muscle Weakness ; Ovarian Neoplasms ; Pancreatic Neoplasms ; Stomach Neoplasms

Behcet's disease is a chronic inflammatory disease of an unknown etiology, and it is characterized by recurrent oral and genital ulcerations, eye lesions skin lesions, and other involvement such as gastrointestinal ulcerations and lesions of the central nervous system and major vessels. The vascular lesions include deep vein thrombosis, superficial thrombophlebitis, arterial aneurysm and arterial occlusion. Aortic aneurysm or pseudoaneurysm is a rare complication, but it is one of the most common causes of death in Behcet's disease. We report here on a case of a 43 year old female with Behcet's disease that was complicated by an abdominal aortic pseudoaneurysm, and this was all successfully treated with percutaneous endovascular stent graft insertion, steroid pulse therapy and azathioprine.
Aneurysm ; Aneurysm, False ; Aortic Aneurysm ; Azathioprine ; Cause of Death ; Central Nervous System ; Eye ; Female ; Humans ; Skin ; Stents ; Thrombophlebitis ; Transplants ; Ulcer ; Venous Thrombosis

No abstract available.
Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; Durapatite ; Humans ; Muscles ; Tendinopathy

Periorbital edema is a rare manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We describe here a patient with bilateral periorbital edema as a presenting symptom of SLE. A 23-year-old woman was admitted for a sudden onset of severe periorbital edema that developed 7 days previously. On the basis of the malar rash, arthritis of the right hand and left wrist, leukopenia, proteinuria and the positive anti-nuclear and anti-dsDNA antibodies, she was diagnosed with SLE. Kidney biopsy revealed lupus nephritis (WHO class IV). After treatment with high dose of steroids, intravenous cyclophosphamide and daily hydroxychloroquine, her symptoms resolved, including the periorbital edema. She was discharged with prescriptions for prednisolone and hydroxychloroquine and she remains well.
Antibodies ; Arthritis ; Biopsy ; Cyclophosphamide ; Edema ; Exanthema ; Female ; Hand ; Humans ; Hydroxychloroquine ; Kidney ; Leukopenia ; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic ; Lupus Nephritis ; Prednisolone ; Prescriptions ; Proteinuria ; Steroids ; Wrist ; Young Adult

Sarcoidosis is multi-systemic disorder of an unknown etiology, and this is histologically characterized by noncaseating granulomatous inflammation. Sarcoidosis may affect the lung, skin, lymph nodes and eyes, but it rarely affects the subcutaneous tissue. There has been no report of diffuse subcutaneous sarcoidosis in Korea. We experienced a 57-year-old female with diffuse subcutaneous sarcoidosis that presented as thickened extremities. The patient complained of edema and skin thickening on both upper extremities. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed the reticular form of sarcoidosis on the forearm and the biopsy showed noncaseating granuloma. She was finally diagnosed as diffuse subcutaneous sarcoidosis and she improved after treatment with corticosteroid. We report here on this unusual case along with a review of the relevant literature.
Biopsy ; Edema ; Extremities ; Eye ; Female ; Forearm ; Granuloma ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Korea ; Lung ; Lymph Nodes ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Middle Aged ; Sarcoidosis ; Skin ; Subcutaneous Tissue ; Upper Extremity