Behcets disease is a chronic systemic disease of unknown etiology, which is characterized by the recurrent orogenital ulcers, eye involvement and skin manifestations. In addition to the major symptoms, it includes arthritis, vasculitis, neurologic manifestations and gastrointestinal lesions. We report a case of Behcets disease associated with intestinal ulcers. The patient, a 45-year-old female, who had been treated under the diagnosis of Behcets disease for 4 years, presented with swallowing difficulty, vaginal discharge and persistent right lower abdominal pain. Colonoscopic examination showed multiple ulcers on the ileocecal region which is reported as the most common site of gastrointestinal Behcets disease. Gastrointestinal evaluation can be useful in diagnosis of Behcets disease, especially in a patient with gastrointestinal symptoms.
Abdominal Pain ; Arthritis ; Deglutition ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Neurologic Manifestations ; Skin Manifestations ; Ulcer* ; Vaginal Discharge ; Vasculitis

No abstract available.
Bile Ducts* ; Bile* ; Choledochal Cyst*

The present study was intended to examine the effect of sodium vanadate on contractility of vascular smooth muscle. Aortic ring preparations were made from the rabbit thoracic aorta and endothelial cells were removed from the ring. The contractility of the aortic ring was measured under various conditions. The results were summarized as follows; 1) Sodium vanadate induced contraction of vascular smooth muscle in a dose-dependent fashion. 2) The contractile effects were not blocked by treatments with adrenergic blocking agent(phentolamine) and indomethacin, indicating the direct action of the drug on vascular smooth muscle. 3) In the presence of ouabain, Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase inhibitor, sodium vanadate still increased the contractility of vascular smooth muscle. 4) Treatment with 4.4'-diisothiocyanostilbene-2.2'-disulfonic acid(DIDS) blocked completely the contractile effects of sodium vanadate. 5) In the presence of verapamil, lanthanum and ryanodine, the contractility of the vascular smooth muscle by sodium vanadate was decreased. From the above results. it was suggested that sodium vanadate acts directly on vascular smooth muscle and causes contraction. It was probably due to inhibition of Ca(++)-ATPase in plasma membrane as well as increasing the release of Ca(++) from sarcoplasmic reticulum and Ca(++) influx across the plasma membrane, but not inhibition of Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase.
Aorta, Thoracic ; Cell Membrane ; Endothelial Cells ; Indomethacin ; Lanthanum ; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular* ; Ouabain ; Ryanodine ; Sarcoplasmic Reticulum ; Sodium* ; Vanadates* ; Verapamil

Propyl gallste and other gallic acid esters are used as antioxidants in lipsticks, lip balms and salves, cosmetic creams and lotions, bakery products, edible fats and other pharmaceutical and industrial products. Propyl gallate is used widely but allergic contact dermatits from propyl gallate is rare. A 44-year-old female patient had pruritic multiple tiny erythematous papules and vesicles on the margin of her lip for a week. We found that the causative material of the allergic contact cheilitis was propyl gallate. We proved it with a patch test, provocation use test and quantitative and qualitative analysis of the lipstick. To our knowledge, this is the first case report of lipstick allergic contact cheilitis from propyl gallate in Korean literature.
Adult ; Antioxidants ; Cheilitis* ; Esters ; Fats ; Female ; Gallic Acid ; Humans ; Lip ; Ointments ; Patch Tests ; Propyl Gallate*

Erythema nodosum has been known to be frequently associated with some kind of drug, infections with streptococci, mycobacteria, lymphogranuloma venerum and certain unknown pathogenic processes such as sarcoidosis, iilcerative colitis and regional enteritis. However, the association of erythema nodosum with leukemia has rarely been reported. Erythema nodosum with leukemia has been divided into leukemia cutis with specific infiltration of atypical leukemic cells and leukemid with non specific infiltration of normal infilammatory cells. We report herein a case of the very rare but typical erythema nodesum showing nonspecific infiltrative panniculitis as an initial manifestation of chronic myelocytic leukemia.
Colitis ; Crohn Disease ; Erythema Nodosum* ; Erythema* ; Leukemia ; Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive* ; Panniculitis ; Sarcoidosis

Carcinosarcoma is a rare malignant tumor composed of a mixture of neoplastic epithelial and mesenchymal elements, which has been reported in many organ systems, but its occurrence is very rare in the skin. An 81-year-old female patient presented with aml-year-history of a painful exophytic mass on the tip of the middle finger of the right hand involving the distal part of the nail bed. The mass was 1 × 1 × 0.6 cm in size, hard, flesh colored, ulcerated and easily bleeding. Microscopically, the epidermis at the margin of the tumor showed the characteristic findings of squamous cell carcinoma and the carcinomatous component was mixed with malignant mesenchymal components focally differentiating into chondrosarcoma. This combination of squamous cell carcinoma and chondrosarcoma has not been reported yet in the skin. She had a distal interphalanx amputation and no recurrence appeared for 1 year on follow-up.
Aged, 80 and over ; Amputation ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell* ; Carcinosarcoma ; Chondrosarcoma* ; Epidermis ; Epithelial Cells* ; Female ; Fingers ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hand ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Recurrence ; Skin* ; Ulcer

PURPOSE: Mucinous colorectal cancers have a poorer prognosis than which colorectal cancer produce low amount of mucin, but the exact mechanism is not well understood. The present study was undertaken to elucidate the exact mechanism of invasion and metastasis of high mucin producing colon cancer cells using mucin glycosylation inhibitor, benzyl-alpha-N-acetylgalactosamine. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To evaluate the effect of glycosylated mucin on invasion and metastasis, in vitro invasion, metalloproteinases (MMPs) activity, cell-matrix protein binding, cell-cell aggregation, as well as endothelial leukocyte adhesion molecule (ELAM-1) binding and cell surface expression of various mucin related antigens were analyzed. RESULTS: MMPs activity in conditioned medium and invasion of ECM-coated porous filters by benzyl-alpha-GalNAc treated HM7 cells were decreased. There was no difference between control and treated HM7 cells in terms of matrix protein binding assay, but treated HM7 cells showed higher homotypic cell adhesion. The binding activity of treated HM7 cells to ELAM-1 was significantly decreased and fixed cell binding of MoAb SNH-3, 19-9 (specific for sialyl-Lewis X and sialyl-Lewis A) were also significantly decreased. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that glycosylated mucin modulates ELAM-1 binding, MMPs activity and homotypic cell adhesion, therefore enhance invasive and metastatic properties of human colon cancer cells.
Cell Adhesion ; Colon* ; Colonic Neoplasms* ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; Culture Media, Conditioned ; E-Selectin ; Glycosylation ; Humans ; Leukocytes ; Matrix Metalloproteinases ; Metalloproteases ; Mucins* ; Neoplasm Metastasis* ; Prognosis ; Protein Binding

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Combination of ticlopidine and aspirin has been accepted as a standard antiplatelet regimen after coronary stenting because it reduced the rate of cardiac events and hemorrhagic-vascular compli-cations compared with intensive anticoagulation. Ticlopidine use, however, may accompany serious side effects such as neutropenia or liver dysfunction. Cilostazol, a c-AMP phosphodiesterase inhibitor, is a novel antiplatelet agent which is known to have less side effects. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We compared the efficacy and safety of ci lostazol plus aspirin (CA) with ticlopidine plus asprin (TA) after elective coronary stenting. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either CA or TA two days before stenting. The primary end point was a composite of angiographic stent thrombosis, death, myocardial infarction (Q or Non-Q), repeat intervention or bypass su rgery at 30 days. The secondary end points were hemorrhagic-vascular complications, or drug side effects such as neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, or any side effects requiring cessation of drugs at 30 days. RESULTS: After randomization of 300 patients equally to each group, 4 patients were excluded from the analysis: 1 failure of stenting, 3 follow-up loss. The primary end point was reached in 2 patients (1.4% ) in CA group and 3 patients (2.0% ) in TA group (p=1.0). The rate of hemorrhagic-vascular complications was not different between the gr oups (1.4% vs 2.0%, p=1.0). The incidence of significant drug-related side effects was not statistically different between CA group and TA group (0.7% vs 2.7%, p=0.37). However, serious side effect such as neutropenia was seen only in TA group. CONCLUSION: Compared with TA, CA has comparable effect for the prevention of stent thrombosis and major cardiac events with similar rate of hemorrhagic-complications and drug-related side effects after elective coronary-artery stenting. Thus CA regimen can be a safe alternative to TA in elective implantation of coronary artery stent.
Aspirin ; Coronary Vessels ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Incidence ; Liver Diseases ; Myocardial Infarction ; Neutropenia ; Random Allocation ; Stents ; Thrombocytopenia ; Thrombosis ; Ticlopidine*

Produced in large-scale since the 1950s, epoxy resins have been used diversely, and new uses are continuing to be found and developed so that the accompanying risks of dermatitis have been spread to new industries such as construction and road building. Epoxy resin, irritants and allergens, cause both direct and airborne contact dermatitis, and occupational dermatitis, This was observed shortly after they were introduced. We report a case of airborne allergic contact dermatitis by an epoxy resin in an antiskid-surfacing worker. A 46-year-old Korean male presented with symmetrical eczematous lesions on exposed areas. A Patch test revealed positive reactions to epoxy resin 1% and their own material, and the symptoms cleared when he changed work environments.
Allergens ; Dermatitis ; Dermatitis, Allergic Contact* ; Dermatitis, Contact ; Dermatitis, Occupational ; Epoxy Resins ; Humans ; Irritants ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Patch Tests

The aortic dissection is an acute aortic syndrome, caused by an intimal tear and subsequent splitting of the media by the pulsatile blood flow. Though there would be differences in the origin of aortic dissection and therapeutic modalities, the intermediate and long-term prognoses are poor. Endovascular Stent-graft implantation is a revolutionary technique in the treatment of aortic dissection. The endovascular stent grafting in aortic dissection is less invasive and feasible method and is an effective tool for closing the entry site and promoting clot formation, reducing the size of the false lumen. Therefore, endovascular Stent-graft implantation makes possible the desirable remodelling of aorta. We report 33 year-old male with aortic dissection in the thoracic aorta, which was treated with endovascular Stent-graft implantation. Over the favorable remodelling, his dissection was healed completely by the endovascular treatment using Stent-graft.
Adult ; Aorta ; Aorta, Thoracic* ; Blood Vessel Prosthesis ; Humans ; Male ; Prognosis