A 63 year-old woman visited our hospital with a palpable chest wall mass in the infrascapular region. We performed excision of the mass. The mass was histolocally diagnosed as elastofibroma. Elastofibroma is characterized by the proliferation of fibrous tissue with elastin. It is a relatively slow growing benign soft tissue tumor and it is most often found in the infrascapular region. We have experienced a cases of this rare disease and we report on it together with a review of the relevant literature.
Elastin ; Female ; Humans ; Rare Diseases ; Thoracic Wall ; Thorax

Elastofibroma dorsi, a rare, noncapsulated benign entity is characterized by the proliferation of fibrous tissue with elastin and occurs most often in the infrascapular area of elderly women. It is a relatively slowly growing lesion and no reports of malignant transformation exist. Which is overlooked easily because it rarely causes symptoms such as tenderness, pain, or restriction of movement. The diagnosis of elastofibroma is established by typical histopathologic findings. Radiographic evaluation may lead to a presumptive diagnosis. We experienced a case of elastofibroma dorsi in a 48-year-old woman and report this case with a review of the literature.
Aged ; Diagnosis ; Elastin ; Female ; Fibroma ; Humans ; Middle Aged

A 71-year-old woman visited our hospital with the chief complain of a mass in her infrascapular region. We performed tumor excision and we diagnosed it as elastofibroma dorsi. Elastofibromas are benign soft tissue tumors that mostly arise in the infrascapular lesion; it is a slowly growing lesion that's characterized by the proliferation of fibrous tissue with elastin. Its incidence is very low and its pathogenesis remains unclear. We report here on this case, and we include a review of the relevant literature.
Aged ; Elastin ; Female ; Fibroma ; Humans ; Incidence ; Thoracic Wall ; Thorax

Elastin is a natural biomedical material of great potential. Being endowed with the special crosslinking and hydrophobic structure, elastin retains many good properties such as good elasticity, ductibility, biocompatibility, biodegradability and so on. Nowadays, elastin as a material, which is gradually attracting people' s attention in the biomedical materials field, has been used as tissue engineering scaffolds, derma substitutes and other biomedical materials. In this context, a systematic review on the characteristics of elastin as a biomedical material and on the actuality of its application is presented. Future developments of elastin in the field of biomedical applications are also discussed.
Biocompatible Materials ; Elastin ; chemistry ; physiology ; Humans ; Skin, Artificial ; Tissue Scaffolds

Many factors influence the elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) self-assembled into micron-sized particles. However, few efforts were made to investigate these factors. Using the ELPs [KV8F]n as the target, we studied systematically the factors with the dynamic light scattering. Our results show that the particle size increased and the uniform of particles decreased with the increase of the molecular weight. The analysis of size variation in self-assembled ELPs in response to changes in salt concentration indicated that the size increased with increasing the salt concentration, and the opposite response was observed when the concentration was above 0.4 mol/L. Under these conditions, the particles are micron-sized and larger than 1.1 μm. However, when the fusions containing the same ELPs and xylanase or 1,3-propanediol oxidoreductase, the size of the self-assembled ELPs particles decreased dramatically, which was only about 1/10 of that of the free ELPs. We proposed that the solvent accessible charged area of the enzymes could interact with the ELPs, the sterical hindrance of the enzymes prevent the aggregation of the ELPs. This might be the most important parameter in altering the particle size sharply.
Elastin ; chemistry ; Molecular Weight ; Particle Size ; Peptides ; chemistry ; Salts ; chemistry

Williams syndrome was first reported in 1961, it is characterized by distinct facial changes, growth deficiency, mental retardation, congenital heart defect (particularly the supravalvular aortic stenosis), associated at times with infantile hypercalcemia. The diagnosis of this disease relied on phenotype, after recent acknowledgement of its genetic basis on the 7th chromosomal locus q11.23 involving elastin gene on the PCR. Recently, commercial probe of elastin gene for FISH was supplied and diagnosed this disease easier. Using PCR has some benefits concerning whether the origin of the genetic defect is maternal or paternal. The diagnosis of this disease is difficult due to low sensitivity, below 50%. But FISH is widely used because it is faster with high positive predictibility. We report Williams syndrome diagnosed by FISH with a brief review and related literatures.
Diagnosis ; Elastin ; Heart Defects, Congenital ; Hypercalcemia ; Intellectual Disability ; Phenotype ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Williams Syndrome*

Anetoderma or Macular atrophy is a rare cutaneous disorder showing local atrophy and macular discoloration related to a local dermal defect of elastic tissiie without any other apparent change in the skin, which may show familial occurrence, called familial anetoderma. A 13-year-old female complained 3-year history of multiple asyrnptomatic atrophic macules on the trunk and both lower extremities, especially on both this. Elastic stain of skin lesion showed decrease of lastic tissue in the dermis. No other syst mic abnormalities were found on phisical examination. Her sister had same skin lesion on lower extremities and both buttocks, and had no ther systemic abnormalities. Despite infrequent occurence, the development of anetoderma among familial members possibly represents a congcnital defect of elastin. Because variou ocular, bony, cardiac, and gastrointestinal abnormalilies have been reported in familial anetoilerma, long-term follow up would be necessary.
Adolescent ; Anetoderma* ; Atrophy ; Buttocks ; Dermis ; Elastin ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Lower Extremity ; Siblings ; Skin

BACKGROUND: A cream made from mucus secreted by snails contains 80% mucin, as well as glycosaminoglycan, allantoin for skin rejuvenation, glycolic acid for keratin removal, and collagen and elastin, which are components of dermis. OBJECTIVE: The goal of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of using cream containing mucus secreted by snails to reduce wrinkles, improve skin elasticity, restore dermal density, and lift the skin. METHODS: Cream containing mucus secreted by snails was applied to the lateral epicanthal areas and the left cheek of 10 subjects for 4 weeks twice per day. Wrinkles, skin elasticity, dermal density, and skin tightening were evaluated at baseline and 2 and 4 weeks. A patient survey was conducted at 4 weeks. RESULTS: There were statistically significant differences between baseline and 4 weeks after applying the cream in terms of wrinkles, skin elasticity, dermal density, and skin tightening (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Use of cream containing mucus secreted by snails seems to be effective for anti-aging of the skin. Long term follow up studies, such as 3 or 6 months, to confirm the efficacy of the cream should be conducted involving a larger number of patients.
Allantoin ; Cheek ; Collagen ; Dermis ; Elasticity ; Elastin ; Humans ; Mucins ; Mucus* ; Rejuvenation ; Skin* ; Snails*

BACKGROUND: The reconstruction of large skin and soft tissue defects on the lower extremities is challenging. The skin graft is a simple and frequently used method for covering a skin defect. However, poor skin quality and architecture are well-known problems that lead to scar contracture. The collagen-elastin matrix, Matriderm, has been used to improve the quality of skin grafts; however, no statistical and objective review of the results has been reported. METHODS: Thirty-four patients (23 male and 11 female) who previously received a skin graft and simultaneous application of Matriderm between January 2010 and June 2012 were included in this study. The quality of the skin graft was evaluated using Cutometer, occasionally accompanied by pathologic findings. RESULTS: All 34 patients showed good skin quality compared to a traditional skin graft and were satisfied with their results. The statistical data for the measurement of the mechanical properties of the skin were similar to those for normal skin. In addition, there was no change in the engraftment rate. CONCLUSIONS: The biggest problem of a traditional skin graft is scar contracture. However, the dermal matrix presents an improvement in skin quality with elastin and collagen. Therefore, a skin graft along with a simultaneous application of Matriderm is safe and effective and leads to a significantly better outcome from the perspective of skin elasticity.
Cicatrix ; Collagen ; Contracture ; Elasticity ; Elastin ; Humans ; Lower Extremity* ; Male ; Skin Transplantation ; Skin* ; Transplants*

The connective tissue nevus represents a hamartoma of various components of dermal connective tissue elements, predominantly collagen, elastin, or glycosa minoglycan. Zosterriform connective tissue nevus, described by Steiner, in 1944, clinically shows grouped papules in a zosteriform band without extracutaneous manifestations of family history, and peculiar histopathologic findings. We experienced 3 cases of typical zosteriforrn connective tissue nevus developed on the flank area of 30-year-old male and 21-year-old male, and on the inguinal area of 15-year-old female.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Collagen ; Connective Tissue* ; Elastin ; Female ; Hamartoma ; Humans ; Male ; Nevus* ; Young Adult