Studies on epidemiological aspects of contact dermatitis have been published in recent years since the introduction of standardized method of patch test.However, most previous epidemiologic reports studied patients with allergic contact dermatitis in hospitals with patcb testing. Such data are not directly applicable to the population at large. Very recentiy there are a few reports ahout rates of exposure and patch test reactivity to certain antigens in a general population. which is difficult to be applicable in a developing country at present. With regard to this, we have tried to analyze the contact dermatitis questionaire containing various items of common causative agents producting contact dermatitis (for example, metals, cosmetics, plants, medicaments and rubber etc.) for the detection of past contact dermatitis histories in a total new dermatologic outpatients. A11 2258 dermatologic outpatients entered this study including 303 contact dermatitis patients (allergic contact dermatitis, primary irritant dermatitis and housewife eczema). We also analyzed the patch test results of 107 patients with suggesting contact dermatitis who visited our hospital at the same period of collecting questionaires. The study results were as follows. 1. Positive rate of each item of the questionaire (No. of said Yes/ No. of responders) was metals, 10.4% cosmetics, 31.8%, plants, 18.2%; medicaments, 12.4%; rubber, 5.8%; and others, 11.7%. 2. The most common all regens of the patch test positive reactions were nickel sulfate (9.3%), fragrance mix(9.3%), formaldehyde(6.5%), potassium dichromate (5.6%), neomycin sulfate (5.6%), balsam of Peru (4.7%), cobalt chloride(3.7%), wood tar(3.7%) and paraphenylene diamine (2.8%) in order of frequency. And the patch test positive rate of commercial cosmetic products was 10.3%. In conclusion, cosmetics, medicaments, metals, plants and rarely rubber are found the most common etiologic agents of contact dermatitis in this study. The reasons and back-ground of the results were also discussed in various aspects.
Cobalt ; Dermatitis, Allergic Contact ; Dermatitis, Contact* ; Dermatitis, Irritant ; Developing Countries ; Epidemiologic Studies* ; Humans ; Metals ; Neomycin ; Nickel ; Outpatients ; Patch Tests ; Peru ; Potassium Dichromate ; Rubber ; Wood

PURPOSE: Interleukin 18 (IL-18) is now recognized as an important regulator of innate and acquired immune response. IL-18 is a proinflammatory cytokine which induces IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha, Granulocyte-macrophage Colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), IL-1, IL-4 and IL-10, to activate killing by lymphocytes, and to up-regulate the expression of certain chemokine receptors. The authors hypothesized that elevated concentration of IL-18 was related to the pathophysiology of KS. The aims of the present study was to evaluate serial changes of serum IL-18 level in acute and subacute phase of KD, and Comparison of serum IL-18 levels, biochemical profiles and the duration of fever. METHODS: We determined simultaneously the serum concentrations of IL-18 and C-reactive protein (CRP) as well as the white blood cell (WBC) count in 23 patients with acute and subacute phase of KD, 23 with respiratory tract infection (febrile controls) and 10 healthy children (afebrile controls). RESULTS: Acute-phase KD patients showed a significantly higher mean IL-18 value (492.80+/-143.70 pg/mL) than that of subaute-phase KD patients(230.67+/-144.13 pg/mL) and afebrile control (223.97+/-164.12 pg/mL)(p<0.05). Subacute-phase KD patients showed a significantly lower level of IL-18 compared to febrile control(519.77+/-242.05 pg/mL)(P<0.05). The IL-18 values in the acute-phase patients showed a positive correlation with CRP (r=0.413, P=0.030), but there were no other correlations between serum IL-18 value and other profiles. CONCLUSION: The results showed increased IL-18 values in the acute phase and normal values in subacute phase of KD. but IL-18 values were not directly correlated with WBC count, CRP and the duration of fever except between IL-18 value and CRP in the acute phaseof KD. The results suggest that IL-18 pathways were activated in the acute phase of KD, and IL-18 production may not be associated with the severity of inflammation in KD.
C-Reactive Protein ; Child ; Fever* ; Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor ; Homicide ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Interleukin-1 ; Interleukin-10 ; Interleukin-18* ; Interleukin-4 ; Leukocytes ; Lymphocytes ; Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome* ; Receptors, Chemokine ; Reference Values ; Respiratory Tract Infections ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha

No abstract available.
Corylus* ; Hypersensitivity*

Papuloerythroderma of Ofuji (PEO) is an uncommon entity of unknown etiology, characterized by coalescing erythematous papules sparing skin folds. A number of cases have described the association of this disorder with malignant with pathology, mainly with cutaneous T cell lymphoma. Such reports give rise to the suggestion that PEO may be a precursor of lymphoma or a form of cutaneous T cell lymphoma. We report a case of PEO, which was diagnosed as cutaneous T-cell lymphoma only 2 months after the development of skin lesions, and rapidly progressed. This case suggests the presence of a variant of cutaneous T cell lymphoma with clinical feature of PEO, which is different from mycosis fungoides or S zary syndrome.
Lymphoma ; Lymphoma, T-Cell, Cutaneous* ; Lymphoma, T-Cell, Peripheral ; Mycosis Fungoides ; Pathology ; Skin

PURPOSE: To evaluate survival rates and prognostic factors related to treatment outcomes after bladder preserving therapy including transurethral resection of bladder tumor, radiotherapy (RT) with or without concurrent chemotherapy in bladder cancer with a curative intent. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively studied 50 bladder cancer patients treated with bladder-preserving therapy at Keimyung University Dongsan Medical Center from January 1999 to December 2010. Age ranged from 46 to 89 years (median, 71.5 years). Bladder cancer was the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage II, III, and IV in 9, 27, and 14 patients, respectively. Thirty patients were treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) and 20 patients with RT alone. Nine patients received chemotherapy prior to CCRT or RT alone. Radiation was delivered with a four-field box technique (median, 63 Gy; range, 48.6 to 70.2 Gy). The follow-up periods ranged from 2 to 169 months (median, 34 months). RESULTS: Thirty patients (60%) showed complete response and 13 (26%) a partial response. All patients could have their own bladder preserved. Five-year overall survival (OS) rate was 37.2%, and the 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) rate was 30.2%. In multivariate analysis, tumor grade and CCRT were statistically significant in OS. CONCLUSION: Tumor grade was a significant prognostic factor related to OS. CCRT is also considered to improve survival outcomes. Further multi-institutional studies are needed to elucidate the impact of RT in bladder cancer.
Chemoradiotherapy* ; Disease-Free Survival ; Drug Therapy ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Joints ; Multivariate Analysis ; Radiotherapy ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms* ; Urinary Bladder*

PURPOSE: This study was designed to evaluate long-term results in terms of failure, survival and voice preservation after radiation therapy for early glottic cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From February 1988 to December 2003, 70 patients with early glottic cancer were treated with radiation therapy at Keimyung University Dongsan Medical Center. Patient age distribution was from 39 to 79 years, with a median age of 62 years. All patients had squamous cell carcinoma. According to the TNM stage, 58 patients had stage I disease, 12 patients had stage II disease; 67 patients were male. The laryngeal area was irradiated with the use of bilateral opposing fields with/without a wedge filter with 6 MV photons at a total dose of 54~70.2 Gy in 1.8~2.2 Gy fractions over 6~8 weeks. We delivered a median radiation dose of 60 Gy for stage I patients and a median radiation dose of 66 Gy for stage II patients. Salvage surgery was performed in patients with local recurrence. The voice preservation rate was analyzed after all treatments including salvage surgery. Follow-up periods were from 13 to 180 months, with a median follow-up period of 77.5 months. The survival rate was analyzed by the use of the Kaplan Meier method and log rank test. A comparison of two groups was performed with the use of the chi-squared test. RESULTS: The local control rate was 98.5% (69/70). The five-year-overall survival rate was 93.9%. The five-year disease free survival rate (5YDFS) was 84.1% and the 5YDFS after radiation and salvage surgery was 92.8%. According to stage, the 5YDFS was 93.1% and 91.7% for stage I and stage II respectively. Thirteen patients (18.5%) had local failure with 24 months of median time to local failure and nine patients received salvage surgery; however, four patients were lost to follow-up after a diagnosis of recurrence. Only two patients died due to a distant metastasis at 33 months and 71 months after radiation therapy, respectively. Nine patients died due to other diseases with a median time of 73 months. There were no severe acute or chronic complications after radiation therapy. Voice preservation was ultimately achieved in 88.5% (62/70) of patients. CONCLUSION: We considered that radiation therapy was effective and we achieved excellent survival and voice preservation in early laryngeal cancer. The use of radiation therapy should be the first choice for the treatment of early glottic cancer.
Age Distribution ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Disease-Free Survival ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Laryngeal Neoplasms ; Lost to Follow-Up ; Male ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Photons ; Recurrence ; Survival Rate ; Voice

No abstract available.
Colitis, Ulcerative* ; Ulcer*

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of phenobarbital (PB) on hepatotoxic effect of carbon tetrachloride (CCI4) which induces centrilobular necrosis in liver. Rats were injected intraperitoneally CCI4 dissolved in olive oil by a dose of 0.4 mg/kg. For change related to PB pretreatment, rats were injected CCI₄ 0.4mg/kg after PB pretreatment. The liver samples were taken in 6, 12, 24, 48, 72 and 120 hours after CCI₄ and/ or PB injection. Extracted liver tissue was examined with light and electron microscopes. The results were summarized as follows: 1. Light microscopic findings: In CCI₄ group, centrilobular necrosis developed from 6 hours after injection, was the most severe in 48 hours, and recovered after 72 hours. In addition to necrosis, fatty change and pale cell change were accompanied. In PB-CCI4 group, necrosis occurred from 6 hours after CCI₄ injection and continued to 72 hours, and the degree of necrosis was more severe than that of CCI₄ group and pale cell change was decreased. 2. Electron microscopic findings: In CCI4 group, the early principal change was clumping and vesicular dilatation of endoplasmic reticulum. In PB-CCI₄ group, the degenerative change of endoplasmic reticulum was aggravated and the mitochondria also revealed severe degenerative change. According to the results, it was revealed that CCI₄ hepatotoxicity primarily began with the damage of endoplasmic reticulum, then damage of other cell organelles and cell necrosis followed, and these cytotoxic effects were aggravated by PB pretreatment.
Animals ; Carbon Tetrachloride* ; Carbon* ; Dilatation ; Endoplasmic Reticulum ; Liver ; Mitochondria ; Necrosis ; Olive Oil ; Organelles ; Phenobarbital* ; Rats*

PURPOSE: To investigate the prognostic factors and effectiveness of postoperative radiotherapy alone for endometrial carcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty four patients with stage I-III endometrial cancer (EC) treated with postoperative radiotherapy alone between January 1989 and December 2008 at the Keimyung University Dongsan Medical Center were chosen for the present study. Typically, total hysterectomy, salpingo-oophorectomy and lymphadenectomy were performed on the patient's pelvis. Total dose from 50.4 Gy to 63 Gy was irradiated at pelvis or extended field. Thirteen patients were treated with Co-60 or Ir-192 intracavitary radiotherapy. Follow-up periods were from 7 to 270 months, with a median of 56 months. RESULTS: Five year overall survival (OS) rate was 58.7%, respectively. Five year disease-free survival (DFS) rate was 59.2%, respectively. In univariate analysis for OS and DFS, stage, menopausal age, type of operation, serosal invasion, and lymph node involvement were found to be statistically significant. Histologic type was marginally significant. In multivariate analysis for OS and DFS, stage, types of operation, histologic type were also found to be statistically significant. Treatment failure occurred in 14 patients. The main pattern of failure was found to be distant metastasis. Time to distant metastasis was from 3 to 86 months (median, 12 months). There were no grade 3 or 4 complications. CONCLUSION: Stage, types of operation, and histologic type could be the predictive prognostic factors in patients. We contemplated postoperative radiation as effective and safe treatment method for EC. Additional treatment would be needed to reduce distant metastasis.
Disease-Free Survival ; Endometrial Neoplasms ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Hysterectomy ; Lymph Node Excision ; Lymph Nodes ; Menopause ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Pelvis ; Postoperative Care ; Prognosis ; Radiotherapy, Adjuvant ; Treatment Failure

Black hairy tongue is a benign skin condition characterized by dark brown or black patches on the tongue, due to hypertrophied filiform papillae. Although the cause of the disease is uncertain, there are several predisposing factors such as poor oral hygiene, smoking and medication. Herein, we report a case of black hairy tongue that developed after the use of psychotropic agents
Causality ; Oral Hygiene ; Skin ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Tongue ; Tongue, Hairy*