BACKGROUND: Epidermis is directly exposed to various external stimuli and protects internal structures. Most studies about skin tension focused on the dermis, and epidermal tension has not been able to attract interest because dermis much thicker than epidermis and dermal collagen fibers play a predominant role in the skin tension. However, circumstances which involve only the epidermis are often shown, and thus it is necessary to study the mechanical property of the epidermis. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to quantify the role of the epidermis as a mechanical barrier. METHODS: Human epidermal sheets were obtained from suction blisters in 14 patients with vitiligo during epidermal grafting. Maximal tension, that is the power required to break the epidermal sheets, was measured by tensiometer. RESULTS: The maximal tension of the epidermis ranged from 40.0 g/cm² to 84.5g/cm² with a mean values of 56.1g/cm² and did not differ significantly according to the age or anatomical sites. CONCLUSION: The barrier function of epidermis is important and the results are expected to be used as the basic information for other studies about the mechanical property of the epidermis. In addition, this will be important data in developing an artificial skin whose mechanical property is similar to that of the human skin.
Blister* ; Collagen ; Dermis ; Epidermis* ; Humans* ; Skin ; Skin, Artificial ; Suction* ; Transplants ; Vitiligo

BACKGROUND: Ultraviolet light induces sunburn, ageing of the skin, pigmentation and even promotes skin cancers. As there has been a recent decrease in the ozone layer surrounding the earth, increasing attention has been given to the effects of ultraviolet light on the skin. Through human epidermis, ultraviolet light is reflected, scattered, absorbed or transmitted. In caucacians, the rate of transmitted ultraviolet light A from the epidermis to the dermis is 50% and the rate of transmitted ultraviolet light B is below 10%. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the transmittance of UVA and UVB on Korean normal epidermis. METHODS: Pure epidermis was obtained from normal human epidermis by suction of blisters in 12 patients with vitiligo. All specimens were irradiated respectively with UVA and UVB and the amount of transmitted energy was measured. RESULTS: 1. The transmittance of UVA energy density by normal epidermis was 47.7+11.2% of irradiated UVA energy. 2. The transmittance of UVB energy density by normal epidermis was 32.4+3.4% of irradiated UVB energy. CONCLUSION: UVA energy transmission through normal epidermis of Korean is less than those of Caucacians but UVB energy transmission through nor mal epidermis of Korean is more than those of Caucacians. It is suggested that this could be an important basic data to study for photoaging and photoprotection in Korean population.
Blister ; Dermis ; Epidermis* ; Humans* ; Pigmentation ; Skin ; Skin Neoplasms ; Stratospheric Ozone ; Suction ; Sunburn ; Ultraviolet Rays ; Vitiligo

BACKGROUND: Ultraviolet light induces sunburn, aging of the skin, disorders of pigment and even promotes skin cancers. Melanin is known to have a protecting role in the skin by blocking ultraviolet light. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate UVA blocking effect of epidermal melanin and to compare UVA blocking effect among different anatomical sites. METHODS: From 20 vitiligo patients who had undergone an epidermal graft, we obtained epidermis of normal and vitiliginous skin and measured transmitted UVA energy density. RESULTS: The vitiliginous epidermis, devoid of melanin, blocked lower amount of UVA energy than the normal epidermis. 11.6% of irradiated UVA energy was blocked by epidermal melanin. No significant differences were observed in UVA blocking effect among different anatomical sites in normal and vitiliginous epidermis. CONCLUSION: Epidermal melanin has some UVA blocking effect. No significant differences were found in UVA blocking effect among different anatomical sites despite the differences in the density of melanin pigment among different sites of the body.
Aging ; Epidermis ; Humans ; Melanins* ; Skin ; Skin Neoplasms ; Sunburn ; Transplants ; Ultraviolet Rays ; Vitiligo*

Friction melanosis is frequently developed in thin, young woman, on thc covered skin of spinc, rib, elbow, knee and tibia. These lesions range from brown to rcddish-brown in color, appear in either band shapes or reticular patterns, and exhibit no overt syrnptoms. They do not show any inflamatory changes, and the skin remains smooth. According to histopathological findings, the main changcs arc perivascular melanophages on the papillary derrnis and upper dermis, and also increased melanin granules on the basal layer. The following case concern a relatively thin 20-year-o1d female patient. She had a syrwptoniless brown color changcs above the ribs of back, growing in dircction of the ribs for a period of three years. This change was band shaped, but there were no signs of inflammatory reaction, leaving the skin smooth. A biopsy was performed on the relevant tissue, and clinical-histopathological analysis was resulting in diagnosis of friction melanosis.
Biopsy ; Dermis ; Diagnosis ; Dronabinol ; Elbow ; Female ; Friction* ; Humans ; Knee ; Melanins ; Melanosis* ; Ribs ; Skin ; Tibia

A 33-year-old man had multiple, dome shaped, pin-head sized, hard papules on the center of face and pigeon's egg sized hard tumors on the left upper arm and the trunk. The histopathological findings of the skin biopsy specimens from face and left upper arm showed tumor islands composed of basophilic cells of the same sppearance as basalioma cells, arranged in a lacelike and solid aggregates, without horn cysts.
Adult ; Animals ; Arm ; Basophils ; Biopsy ; Horns ; Humans ; Islands ; Ovum ; Skin

Regardless of the any cause leg ulcers are painful and inconvenient to patients and present clinical and economic problems due to their chronicity. Conventional skin grafts, cultured allogenic epidermis, and cultured autologous epidermis have been used for the treatment of leg ulcers. In a twenty-year-old woman with leg ulcers, autologous pure epidermal sheets were obtained from the lower chest by means of suction blisters and grafted to the leg ulcers. All lesions were healed completely in 20 days after grafting. The donor sites showed slight postinflammatory hyperpigmentations without scars. The autologous epidermal graft using suction blisters appears to be a useful method for the treatment of leg ulcers, with no immunologic rejection, no need for cultivation and anesthesia, no desiccation, and no scars on the donor sites.
Anesthesia ; Blister* ; Cicatrix ; Desiccation ; Epidermis ; Female ; Humans ; Leg Ulcer* ; Leg* ; Methods ; Skin ; Suction* ; Thorax ; Tissue Donors ; Transplants*

No abstract available.
Cholesterol* ; Granuloma*

Lichen striatus is an uncommon unilateral inflammatory linear papular dermatosis of uncertain etiology. It most commonly affects the extremities and has a self-limiting course. Nail involvement in lichen striatus is a very rare reported finding and is a cause of a deformity of the nail plate. It tends to have a more prolonged course for cutaneous eruptions than disease limited only to the skin. Characteristic histopathological features are important to differentiate this condition from other linear lesions that may interfere with nail growth. Three cases of lichen striatus with onychodystrophy are presented herein.
Congenital Abnormalities ; Extremities ; Lichens* ; Skin ; Skin Diseases

There has been considerable controversies in the method of the treatment of dislocation of the acromioclavicular joint, especially in grade III injury. It is hard to give a direct firm repair having a short ruptured coracoclavicular ligament. Thats why there are lots of difficulties in the treatment. Therefore, in operative treatment, the authors make use of cotton tape on coracoid process and clavicle as a reconstructive technique, because we have thought a simple fixation of acromioclavicular joint adding to a firm fixation of clavicle and coracoid process is inevitable. From January 1991 to December 1995, twenty-nine cases of grade III acromio-clavicular dislocation were treated by the modified Phemister method with using the cotton tape. Twenty-four patients were followed for an average of fifteen months and the following results were obtained. 1. The clinical results were evaluated by Weitzman criteria after average fifteen months follow up. An excellent result was obtained in 19 cases (79.2%), a good result in 3 cases (12.5%) and a fair result in 2 cases (8.3%), consecutively. 2. Clinical result in patients over 60-year old were bad. 3. The comparison of the coracoclavicular interval ratio before surgery with that after surgery facilitated the evaluation of effectiveness of the coracoclavicular ligament reconstruction. 4. The operative technique is through temporary fixation using K-wires which endows horizontal stability, and it fixes clavicle and coracoid process using cotton tape which endows vertical stability.
Acromioclavicular Joint ; Clavicle ; Dislocations* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Ligaments ; Middle Aged

Although vascular injury after clavicular fracture is a extremely rare, it is a complication which is serious problem. Vascular injury associated with the fracture can be immediate or delayed. We report a case of late-onset brachial artery occlusion caused by subclavian artery stenosis with excessive scar tissue after open reduction and plate fixation for clavicular fracture and include a review of the literature.
Brachial Artery* ; Cicatrix ; Subclavian Artery* ; Subclavian Steal Syndrome* ; Vascular System Injuries