BACKGROUND: Drug reactions are common problems in hospital inpatients and outpatients. Reliable diagnosis is essential but often difficult. OBJECTIVE: This study attempts to define the clinical features and causative drugs in the patients with drug eruptions, and to evaluate the diagnostic value of skin tests. METHODS: Sixty one patients with drug eruptions were reviewed clinically. In 18 patients, patch and prick tests were performed using suspected drugs. RESULTS: 1. The highest incidence of drug eruptions was observed in the third and forth decades(44.2%) and there was no sexual prodominence. 2. The most frequent latent peroid was 4 hours to 1 week(49.2%). 3. The common morphological features were exanthematous eruptions(57.3%), urticaria(14.8%) and fixed drug eruptoins(11.5%). 4. The major causative drugs were antibiotics(cephalosporin, ampicillin), antipyretics/anti-inflammatory analgesics(aspirin, piroxicam) and CNS depressants(diphenylhydantoin). 5. Clinical manifestations according to possible causative drugs were as follows; exanthematous eruptions by antibiotics, antipyretics/analgesics, herbs, CNS depressants, propylthiouracil and captopril; urticaria by antibiotics and herbs; fixed drug eruption by sulfonamide, antipyretics/analgesics and phenobarbital; acneiform eruptions by diphenylhydantoin and isoniazid; Stevens-Johnson syndrome by ampicillin, sulfonamide, aspirin and piroxicam, erythema nodosum by sulfonamide, and lichenoid drug eruptions by propylthiouracil. 6. Positivity to patch and prick tests was shown in 2 of the 18 patients and in 1 of 18 patients, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The most frequent clinical feature of the drug eruptions were exanthematous in nature and the most common causative drugs were antibiotics, as suspected. To search for the causative drug of the drug eruption, the only usual methods of patch and prick tests were not sufficient in our study.
Acneiform Eruptions ; Ampicillin ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Aspirin ; Captopril ; Central Nervous System Depressants ; Diagnosis ; Drug Eruptions* ; Erythema Nodosum ; Humans ; Incidence ; Inpatients ; Isoniazid ; Outpatients ; Patch Tests ; Phenobarbital ; Phenytoin ; Piroxicam ; Propylthiouracil ; Skin Tests* ; Skin* ; Stevens-Johnson Syndrome ; Urticaria

Angioma serpiginosum is a rare acquired naevoid disorder, characterized by minute red or purple punta that are frequently arranged in serpiginous patterns in the lower extremities and buttocks. It usually begins in childhood and is more common in females. Histopathologically, thin-walled capillaries in the dermal papillae and the superficial reticular dermis are widely dilated without extravasation of red blood cells. We report a case of angioma serpiginosum on the lateral aspect of the right arm along the lines of Blaschko in a 36-year-old woman.
Adult ; Arm ; Buttocks ; Capillaries ; Dermis ; Erythrocytes ; Female ; Hemangioma* ; Humans ; Lower Extremity

Eccrine nevus is a rare benign cutaneous lesion, frequently present at birth or at an early age. Herein we report on a 1-year-old girl with erythematous papules in a zosteriform arrangement associated with hyperhidrosis on the left side of her trunk.
Female ; Humans ; Hyperhidrosis ; Nevus* ; Parturition

No abstract available.
Child ; Histiocytoma, Benign Fibrous ; Humans

Eosinophilic panniculitis is characterized by a prominent infiltration of numerous eosinophils in subcutaneous fat, and has been identified in patients with a variety of associated clinical conditions. A case of eosinophilic panniculitis in a 20-year-old woman with a history of atopic dermatitis is reported. She later developed superior sagittal sinus thrombosis, and we stress the importance of systemic evaluations in patients with eosinophilic panniculitis.
Dermatitis, Atopic ; Eosinophils* ; Female ; Humans ; Panniculitis* ; Subcutaneous Fat ; Superior Sagittal Sinus* ; Thrombosis* ; Young Adult

We report two cases showing typical clinical features of subcutaneous granuloma annulare. Clinically, rapidly growing non-tender subcutaneous nodules developed on the scalp of healthy children without histories of trauma or infection. Histopathologically, collagen degeneration surrounded by histiocytes and lymphocytes in a palisading arrangement were seen in the deep dermis and subcutaneous layer. The foci of degeneration contained pale and edematous basophilic mucinous deposits. The skin lesions resolved spontaneously without specific treatment. Subcutaneous granuloma annulare should be considered in the differential diagnosis of children presenting with soft tissue masses.
Basophils ; Child ; Collagen ; Dermis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Granuloma Annulare* ; Granuloma* ; Histiocytes ; Humans ; Lymphocytes ; Mucins ; Scalp ; Skin

A considerable body of evidence has been accumulated suggesting that invasive squamous cell carcinoma develops from cervical intraepithelial neoplasia(CIN). Most women with invasive cancer of the cervix are from lower socioeconomic groups, have begun heterosexual activity early in life, marry early, are multiparous, and have many sexual partners. Although the epidemiology of the cervical cancer is known well, the pathogenesis of the cervical cancer from CIN is subtle yet. Apoptosis, including the programmed cell death, is important event in normal cell turnover and maintenance of adult tissues. Apoptosis exerts a homeostatic function in relation to tissues dynamics, as the steady state of continuously renewing tissues achieved by a balance between cell replication and cell death. The specific labelling of nick ends of fragmented DNA was used to see the apoptotic cells from normal epithelium of the cervix to invasive cervical cancer. The apoptotic cells were found normally in the parabasal layer of the epithelium. As the grade of CIN increase, the apoptotic cell were found in superficial of the cervix and number of the apoptotic cell were increased. In the cervical cancer, the apoptotic cell were found in the cancerous tissues more than in the normal epithelium. This results suggest that the cell proliferation is more important than the inhibition of the apoptosis in the carcinogenesis of the cervical cancer.
Adult ; Apoptosis* ; Carcinogenesis* ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Cell Death ; Cell Proliferation ; Cervix Uteri ; DNA ; Epidemiology ; Epithelium ; Female ; Heterosexuality ; Humans ; Sexual Partners ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms*

The anti-inflammatory activity of a corticosteroid may mask the contact allergic reaction it is causing. This may be an important reason why contact allergy to corticosteroids has often been missed. A simple persistent aggravation of a dermatitis in a patient treated with one or more topical corticosteroids is sufficient to raise a suspicion of corticosteroid hypersensitivity. A 23-year-old male visited our department for the evaluation of his aggravated pruritic oozing erythematous papules, scales and edema of the face. Previously, he was treated with Dermatop ointment and Plancollotion. A Patch test showed positive reactions to prednicarbate 10%, 1%, hydrocortisone-17-butyrate 10%, and triamcinolone 10%. We conclude prednicarbate in Dermatop ointment, hydrocortisone-17-butyrate in Plancol lotion to be the etiological agents.
Adrenal Cortex Hormones ; Dermatitis ; Dermatitis, Allergic Contact* ; Edema ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; Male ; Masks ; Patch Tests ; Triamcinolone ; Weights and Measures ; Young Adult

Membranous lipodystrophy is a peculiar type of fat necrosis, present in patients with various types of skin diseases. It is charaeterized by the presence of microcysts and macrocysts lined by amorphous eosinophilic material with a crenelated arabesque appearance and microgranules in the subcutis with massive fat necrosis. The eosinophilic lining and microgranules stain positively with periodic acid-Schiff, are resistant to diastase, and also stain with Sudan black B. We report three cases of subcutanous membranous lipodystrophy in patients with erythema induratum, posttraumatic panniculitis and morphea with typical clinical and histopathologic findings.
Amylases ; Eosinophils ; Erythema Induratum ; Fat Necrosis ; Humans ; Lipodystrophy* ; Panniculitis ; Scleroderma, Localized ; Skin Diseases ; Sudan

We report a case of solitary congenital calcified nodule of the ear in a 1-year-old female. The lesion was a 2 X 2mm-sized, elevated, slightly erythematous and whitish-centered nodule located since birth on the superior helical rim of her left ear. Histopathological findings fram the totally excised lesion showed calcium deposits as amorphous, basophilic masses in the upper dermis and focal discharge of calcium by means of transepidermal elimination. Surrounding the calcium deposits, lymphohistiocytic infiltrations were present.
Basophils ; Calcium ; Dermis ; Ear* ; Female ; Humans ; Parturition