The pilomatricoma (Calcifying Epithelioma of Malherbe) is rare benign tumor of adnexal keratinocytes. It is occuring usually as a single, asymptomatic, 0. 5 cm to 3. 0 cm sized, deep seated, firm nodule, covered by normal or pink skin. Multiple pilomatricoma is relatively rare, as 3. 5% of reported cases of pilomatricoma. A 21-year-old male patient had 7 subcutaneous nodules on the neck, both upper extremities and trunk for 9 years. We excised one of them, under the impression of calcinosis cutis, cysticercosis cutis or benign skin tumor. But histopathologic findings of the lesion showed the typical pattern of pilomatricoma with shadow cells, calcification and foreign body giant cells. Five of remainders were excised and they showed same histopathological findings of pilomatricoma. The authors presented herein one case of multiple pilomatricoma with the review of literature.
Calcinosis ; Carcinoma ; Cysticercosis ; Giant Cells, Foreign-Body ; Humans ; Keratinocytes ; Male ; Neck ; Pilomatrixoma* ; Skin ; Upper Extremity ; Young Adult

Granuloma annulare is a benign, usually self-limited chronic dermatasia of unknown cause, charaeterized by akin colored papules that may be arranaged in an annular configuraticn. Histopathologically, it is charicterized by camplete or incomplete foeal degeneration of collagen of chronic infliammatory cells. The authors obaerved an atypical case of granuloma annulare in a 4-year-old girl. She showed multiple papules and nodule on hands and feet. On inital examination, her skin lesions suggested histiacytosis, xanthanulama, rheumatoid nodule, or benign skin tumor. But the skin biopey revealed typica1 findings of granuloma awulare. Focal degeneration of colagen was confirmed by toluictine blue stain. Her skin lesions were almoatly cleared by skin biopsy and intralesional injectian of corticosteroid.
Biopsy ; Child, Preschool ; Collagen ; Female ; Foot ; Granuloma Annulare* ; Granuloma* ; Hand ; Humans ; Rheumatoid Nodule ; Skin

The nail has been considered to be the best human model to evaluate the general body state at all ages. The present study was disigned to measure the nail growth rate and to define the correlation of them with other values of nail size. The subjects were 373 males and 812 females whose ages from R months to 79 years. The results were as follows: 1. The linear elongation of the nails were most rapid in the 14 to 15 year-old age group. It decreased steadily as the subjects got older and olr1er. 2. Sex differences in the nail growth rate were not statistically significant. R. Where were no statistically significant differences in the linear growth rate of nails between right and left hands. 4. The middle finger nail grew more quickly than others, while the thumb and little finger nails grew more slowly. 5. Linear growth of nails were not significantly correlated to the thickness and length of nails and the length of lunulae.
Adolescent ; Female ; Fingers ; Hand ; Humans ; Male ; Pityriasis Lichenoides* ; Pityriasis* ; Sex Characteristics ; Thumb

BACKGROUND: Androgenetic alopecia is the most common form of hair loss in people with a genetic predisposition. It is characterized by the miniaturization of terminal hair follicles and the formation of vellus-like follicles. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence, clinical manifestation, genetic and endocrine factor, and associated diseases of Korean patients with androgenetic alopecia. METHODS: We studied 789 Korean men and women with androgenetic alopecia. A detailed history was taken and their hormonal values were measured. A pelvic ultrasound scan was performed to check for abnormalities the ovaries and uterus of 56 women with androgenetic alopecia. RESULTS: The number of men was 1.9 times more (520) than that of women (269). Most of them were in their twenties (male 223; 42.8%, female 85; 31.5%). In the 520 male patients, Norwood class IIIv was dominant (161 patients; 30.9%). In the 269 female patients, Ludwig class I was superior (218 patients; 81%). 395 (75.9%) of male patients and 198 (73.6%) of female patients had a family history of androgenetic alopecia. The most common associated disorder was seborrheic dermatitis (male 407; 78.2%, female 155; 57.6%). And others included atopic dermatitis, hypertension, thyroid disease, etc. Serum testosterone levels were increased in 92 (17.6%) of the male patients and in 36 (13.3%) of the female patients. Abnormal pelvic ultrasound findings were observed in 10 (18%) of 56 female patients, and the conditions were ovarian cysts (8.9%), Uterine myoma (5.4%), uterine mass (2%), endometrial mass (2%). CONCLUSION: Androgenetic alopecia is a disease that has genetic and familial tendency and is associated with the androgen level. The number of androgenetic alopecia patients was increasing and type IIIv was most common in the male patients. The pelvic ultrasound showed an increased rate of abnormal findings in the female patients with androgenetic alopecia, but ultrasound is not an appropriate routine test to evaluate.
Alopecia ; Dermatitis, Atopic ; Dermatitis, Seborrheic ; Female ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Hair ; Hair Follicle ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Male ; Miniaturization ; Myoma ; Ovarian Cysts ; Ovary ; Prevalence ; Testosterone ; Thyroid Diseases ; Uterus

There are two types of retinal macroglia: astrocyte and Muller cell. The major component of iintermediate filament in astrocyte is GFAP, recognized as the primary marker of astrocyte. Muller cells do not physiologically express GFAP in normal developing retina. A striking increase in GFAP expression. however, is observed in Muller cells under certain pathological condition. It is also suggested that this kind of changes of Muller cells in human retina is related with aging, and may be an early feature of pathogenesis of Age related macular degeneration. The goal of this study is to investigate the involvement of the human retinal macroglia in normal aging by immunogold labeling for electron. The goal of this study is to investigate the involvement of the human retinal macroglia in normal aging by immunogold labeling for electron microscopy. The sections of aged neurosensory retina showed the evidence of expression of GFAP by Muller cells. The results suggest, therefore, that Muller cells are induced to express GFAP during aging.
Aging ; Astrocytes ; Ependymoglial Cells ; Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein* ; Humans* ; Macular Degeneration ; Microscopy, Electron ; Retina ; Retinaldehyde* ; Strikes, Employee

Retinal horizontal cell is second-order neuron that integrates the information from photoreceptors over large retinal areas, mediating the lateral spread of visual signals to distant retina. The Neurofilament proteins, considered as neuronal markers, have been imunolocalized to mammalian retinal horizontal cess. However, the immunolabeling of Neurofilament in human, has been focused on the studies of visual pathway and large ganglion cells The goal of this study is to see whether human retinal horizontal cells are indeed neuronal nature or glial nature by immunogold labeling for electron microscopy. The sections of 65 year-old human retina showed the expression of Neurofilament by horizontal cells, which confirms the evidence of human retinal horizontal cell as neuronal nature.
Aged ; Ganglion Cysts ; Humans* ; Microscopy, Electron ; Negotiating ; Neurofilament Proteins ; Neurons ; Retina ; Retinal Horizontal Cells* ; Retinaldehyde* ; Visual Pathways

OBJECTIVE: In general, quadriplegic patients use their voices to call the caregiver. However, severe quadriplegic patients are in a state of tracheostomy, and cannot generate a voice. These patients require other communication tools to call caregivers. Recently, monitoring of eye status using artificial intelligence (AI) has been widely used in various fields. We made eye status monitoring system using deep learning, and developed a communication system for quadriplegic patients can call the caregiver. METHODS: The communication system consists of 3 programs. The first program was developed for automatic capturing of eye images from the face using a webcam. It continuously captured and stored 15 eye images per second. Secondly, the captured eye images were evaluated for open or closed status by deep learning, which is a type of AI. Google TensorFlow was used as a machine learning tool or library for convolutional neural network. A total of 18,000 images were used to train deep learning system. Finally, the program was developed to utter a sound when the left eye was closed for 3 seconds. RESULTS: The test accuracy of eye status was 98.7%. In practice, when the quadriplegic patient looked at the webcam and closed his left eye for 3 seconds, the sound for calling a caregiver was generated. CONCLUSION: Our eye status detection software using AI is very accurate, and the calling system for the quadriplegic patient was satisfactory.
Artificial Intelligence ; Caregivers ; Humans ; Learning ; Machine Learning ; Quadriplegia ; Tracheostomy ; Unsupervised Machine Learning ; Voice

BACKGROUND: Stimulation of iNOS with subsequent release of NO may play a critical role in pathophysiology or host defense reactions. NO can be produced by several cell types that reside in the skin. Increasing data indicate that NO serves as an autocrine and paracrine mediators in diverse and complex cellular processes throughout the skin. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to elucidate whether dendritic epidermal T cell can express iNOS and generate NO. In addition to that, this study was to evaluate whether NO may play a certain role in IL-3 production of activated dendritic epidermal T cell. METHODS: iNOS mRNA was isolated by RT-PCR at 12, 24, 48, 72 hours after stimulation and NO was measured by the Griess method. IL-3 levels were assessed with a basic cell proliferation bioassay system using supernatants from T cells cultured in 96 well plates. Units of IL-3 in the culture supernatants were measured using the cytokine-dependent DA-1 cell line. RESULTS: 1. NO generation was increased by UVB 100mJ/cm2 irradiation, concanavalin-A and lipopolysaccharide stimulation in dendritic epidermal T cell. The amount of NO was highest in LPS. 2. The expression of iNOS was increased by UVB 100mJ/cm2 irradiation, concanavalin-A and lipopolysaccharide stimulation in dendritic epidermal T cell. Induction of iNOS revealed peak at 72 hours after concanavalin-A and lipopolysaccharide stimulation, but in UVB irradiation that of iNOS was not observed except at 48 hours. 3. NO may play a role in IL-3 production in activated dendritic epidermal T cell. CONCLUSION: The results strongly suggest that the expression of iNOS and NO production in dendritic epidermal T cell are upregulated by UVB, concanavalin-A and lipopolysaccharide, and NO may play a role as mediator in IL-3 production of activated dendritic epidermal T Cell as autocrine manner.
Biological Assay ; Cell Line ; Cell Proliferation ; Interleukin-3* ; RNA, Messenger* ; Skin ; T-Lymphocytes

Unilateral brachial plexus injury is a rare complication of thoracoscopic sympathectomy, which is generally considered to be a simple and safe procedure. We report on a 20-year-old female patient who developed persistent pain and weakness of the left arm after thoracoscopic sympathectomy for hyperhidrosis. An electromyographic study revealed evidence of denervation at the C5-C7 level, and a nerve conduction study on the left brachial plexus showed decreased amplitude of the compound muscle action potential of the left musculocutaneous and axillary nerves. The above findings are compatible with left brachial plexopathy, with predominant involvement of the lateral and posterior cord. We suggest that this complication was caused by stretch and/or compression of the left brachial plexus when the arm was hyperabuducted upwards during the operation. Careful attention to positioning by the surgeon and anesthesiologist is needed to prevent this debilitating injury.
Action Potentials ; Arm ; Brachial Plexus Neuropathies ; Brachial Plexus* ; Denervation ; Female ; Humans ; Hyperhidrosis ; Neural Conduction ; Sympathectomy* ; Young Adult

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The most effective method of improving survival in patients with HCC is early diagnosis and curative hepatic resection. However, longterm survival after curative resection remains low because of high recurrence rate after resection. The purpose of the study is to assess the prognosis and the efficacy of the various treatment modalities on recurrent HCC after curative resection. METHODS: The clinical records of 50 patients with recurrent HCC were reviewed retrospectively who underwent curative surgery in Yonsei University, Severance Hospital from Jan. 1987 through Oct. 1994. The cummulative recurrent rate after resection, the response rate of treatment after resection, the median progression free survival and the survival after recurrence according to the treatment modalities were evaluated. RESULTS: The cummulative recurrent rate after resection was 3.9% at 3 month, 8.3% at 6 month, 14.1% at 12 month, 21.5% at 24 month, 23.4% at 36 month and 24.4% at 60 month. The response rate of treatment after recurrence was 23.7% (9 patients). The median progression free survival of the patient with reoperation and hepatic embolization was 13.9 months, that of conservative treatment group was 6.8 months and that of no treatment group was 4 months(p = 0.004). The survival after recurrence of HCC was 19.7 months in reoperation and hepatic embolization group, 11.4 months in multimodality group, 16.9 months in conservative treatment group and 8.4 months in no treatment group(p=0.0998). CONCLUSION: Reoperation and hepatic embolization for HCC after curative resection was effective in improving progression free survival, but overall survival were not significantly different according to the treatment modalities. This results proposed that reoperation and hepatic embolization for recurrent HCC after curative resection improve progression free survival.
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular* ; Disease-Free Survival ; Early Diagnosis ; Humans ; Prognosis* ; Recurrence ; Reoperation ; Retrospective Studies