Ecthyma gangrenosum is a characteristic skin lesion of systemic infection due to Pseudomonas aeruginosa. It has a high incidence in patients with chronic disease and impaired defense mechanisms. Early diagnosis and appropriate systemic antibiotic therapy is crucial since its mortality rate is very high. We report a case of ecthyma gangrenosum in aplastic anemia.
Adult ; Anemia, Aplastic/*complications/pathology ; Case Report ; Female ; Human ; Opportunistic Infections/microbiology/pathology ; Pseudomonas Infections/*complications/microbiology/pathology ; Skin Diseases, Bacterial/drug therapy/*etiology/pathology

Adolescent ; Adult ; Anemia, Aplastic ; etiology ; therapy ; Benzene ; poisoning ; Bone Marrow Cells ; drug effects ; pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Occupational Diseases ; etiology ; therapy ; Occupational Exposure ; adverse effects

To overcome poor graft function after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT), the use of peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) instead of bone marrow is gaining more popularity because of its advantages. There may, however, be an increased risk of graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD) because of the large number of lymphocytes present in a leukapheresis product. An 18-year-old man with severe aplastic anemia underwent an allogeneic BMT using his HLA-identical sister. After initial excellent graft take for 8 months, his blood counts gradually decreased to 2.8 x 10(9)/L of white cells and 28 x 10(9)/L of platelets with marrow cellularity of < 10%. After allogeneic granulocyte-colony stimulating factor mobilized PBSC rescue, the patient's blood counts recovered satisfactorily. Around 1 year after the boost, he developed chronic GVHD that responded to prednisolone and cyclosporin A. He is now well on low-dose steroids at day +1055 after PBSC rescue. The present case is the first experience of a long-term follow-up who underwent allogeneic PBSC rescue in Korea.
Adolescence ; Anemia, Aplastic/therapy ; Anemia, Aplastic/blood ; Bone Marrow Transplantation/adverse effects* ; Chronic Disease ; Cyclosporine/therapeutic use ; Female ; Graft vs Host Disease/pathology ; Graft vs Host Disease/etiology* ; Graft vs Host Disease/drug therapy ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation/adverse effects* ; Human ; Male ; Prednisolone/therapeutic use

Aplastic anemia is a rare complication of thymoma and is extremely infrequent after thymectomy. We present a case of a 60-year-old woman with very severe aplastic anemia appearing sixteen months after thymectomy for a thymoma. She underwent thymectomy for a thymoma in April 2000. Preoperative examination revealed no hematologic abnormality. About sixteen months after the operation, she was readmitted because of pancytopenia with cough and fever. Bone marrow aspiration revealed a very severe hypoplasia in all the three cell lines with over 80% fatty tissue, and chest CT revealed no recurrence of thymoma. Her aplastic anemia had responded to cyclosporine A and granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF).
Anemia, Aplastic/drug therapy/*etiology/*pathology ; Biopsy, Needle ; Bone Marrow/pathology ; Cyclosporine/administration & dosage ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor/administration & dosage ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Rare Diseases ; Risk Assessment ; Severity of Illness Index ; Thymectomy/*adverse effects/methods ; Thymoma/diagnosis/*surgery ; Treatment Outcome