Fibrous dysplasia is a common benign disorder of bone in which normal bone marrow is replaced with fibro-osseous tissue. As PET/CT is increasingly used for the staging of different malignant disease, incidentally found fibrous dysplasia with increased FDG uptake may mimic metastasis. We report on a 46-year-old woman with fibrous dysplasia who underwent PET/CT because of suspected recurrence of breast cancer and was misdiagnosed as a bony metastasis with a focal FDG uptake on left proximal femur. This lesion was interpreted as fibrous dysplasia based on MRI in addition to the plain radiographs. We conclude that MRI in addition to radiography may help to differentiate fibrous dysplasia mimicking metastasis on PET/CT in the patients with malignancy.
Bone Marrow ; Breast ; Breast Neoplasms ; Female ; Femur ; Humans ; Hydrazines ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Recurrence

Vitiligo has been associated with various disorders including thyroid disease, type I diabetes, alopecia areatal and pernicious anemia. It has been purported to be caused by autoimmune response. Vitiligo and alopecia areata occurring in the same patient has often been found, but colocalization of these two diseases has been rarely reported. It is suggested that this concurrence can result from a nonspecific immune mechanism affecting not only the melanocyte but the epithelium of the hair follicle as well. Thus colocalization can occur due to costimulation of a helper T-cell-mediated immunologic response or through inactivation of a suppressor-mediated response and other composite mechanisms such as neurogenic factors, stress and infection. We report a 17-year-old Korean female who presented with a 1-year history of alopecia and depigmentation on the same site of the left eyebrow. We diagnosed this skin lesion as colocalization of vitiligo and alopecia areata by both clinical and histopathological findings.
Adolescent ; Alopecia Areata* ; Alopecia* ; Anemia, Pernicious ; Autoimmunity ; Epithelium ; Eyebrows ; Female ; Hair Follicle ; Humans ; Melanocytes ; Skin ; Thyroid Diseases ; Vitiligo*

Cushing's disease is an ACTH-producing pituitary corticotrope adenoma. This pituitary adenoma exhibits an unrestrained ACTH secretion resulting in hypercortisolemia. A 27-year-old female visited us with a 3-year history of diffuse hair loss on the scalp. Her past medical history included recently-developed hypertension and 10 years of increased weight gain and oligomenorrhea. Central obesity, hirsutism, acne, violet striae on the abdomen, lower and upper extremities, and christmas tree-shaped alopecia on the scalp were observed upon physical examination. The secretion of cortisol was not suppressed in both a low and high dose dexamethasone suppression test. A brain MRI detected a pituitary microadenoma in the sella turcica. Based on the clinical and laboratory findings, we diagnosed androgenetic alopecia associated with Cushing's disease. After surgical removal of the pituitary adenoma, the alopecia showed a remarkable improvement. We report a case of Cushing's disease found in a patient with androgenetic alopecia.
Abdomen ; Acne Vulgaris ; Adenoma ; Adrenocorticotropic Hormone ; Adult ; Alopecia* ; Brain ; Dexamethasone ; Female ; Hair ; Hirsutism ; Humans ; Hydrocortisone ; Hypertension ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Obesity, Abdominal ; Oligomenorrhea ; Physical Examination ; Pituitary Neoplasms ; Scalp ; Sella Turcica ; Upper Extremity ; Viola ; Weight Gain

Castleman's disease, also known as angiofollicular lymphoid hyperplasia or giant lymph-node hyperplasia, is an unusual form of a lymphoproliferative disorder, and is divided clinically into a solitary and a multicentric form. The multicentric form of Castleman's disease is almost always of the plasma cell type. This can coexist with Kaposi's sarcoma in some cases. Kaposi's sarcoma is a multicentric, proliferative, vascular tumor involving cutaneous and visceral tissue. Iatrogenically-developed, immunosuppression-associated Kaposi's sarcoma is usually the result of immunosuppressive therapy. A 61-year-old man diagnosed as the plasma cell type of Castleman's disease, who had been treated with prednisolone for 2 years, was referred to the department of dermatology with numerous skin lesions consisting of confluent, violaceous-colored papules and plaques on his palm and soles. Histologic examination of the cutaneous lesions showed consistency with Kaposi's sarcoma. We report a rare case of Kaposi's sarcoma associated with multicentric Castleman's disease.
Dermatology ; Giant Lymph Node Hyperplasia* ; Herpesvirus 8, Human ; Humans ; Hyperplasia ; Lymphoproliferative Disorders ; Middle Aged ; Plasma Cells ; Prednisolone ; Sarcoma, Kaposi* ; Skin

Ceramides are the main lipid component maintaining the lamellae structure of stratum corneum, as well as lipid second messengers for the regulation of cellular proliferation and/or apoptosis. In our previous study, psoriatic skin lesions showed marked decreased levels of ceramides and signaling molecules, specially protein kinase C-alpha (PKC-alpha) and c-jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) in proportion to the psoriasis area and severity index (PASI) scores, which suggested that the depletion of ceramide is responsible for epidermal hyperproliferation of psoriasis via downregulation of proapoptotic signal cascade such as PKC-alpha and JNK. In this study, we investigated the protein expression of serine palmitoyltransferase (SPT) and ceramidase, two major ceramide metabolizing enzymes, in both psoriatic epidermis and non-lesional epidermis. The expression of SPT, the ceramide generating enzyme in the de novo synthesis in psoriatic epidermis, was significantly less than that of the non-lesional epidermis, which was inversely correlated with PASI score. However, the expression of ceramidase, the degradative enzyme of ceramides, showed no significant difference between the lesional epidermis and the non-lesional epidermis of psoriatic patients. This might suggest that decreased expression of SPT protein is one of the important causative factors for decreased ceramide levels in psoriasis.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Amidohydrolases/*biosynthesis/metabolism ; Apoptosis ; Cell Proliferation ; Ceramidases ; Ceramides/chemistry ; Child ; Epidermis/metabolism ; Female ; Humans ; JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases/metabolism ; Male ; Models, Biological ; Protein Kinase C-alpha/metabolism ; Psoriasis/*blood/diagnosis ; Serine C-Palmitoyltransferase/*biosynthesis

We present a case of annular polycylic type of subacute lupus erythematosus which fulfilled the criteria of systemic lupus erythematosus and was associated with protein losing enteropathy. A 37-year-old male had erythematous annular rashes with several painful, scattered ulcers and a generalized edematous appearance. Abnormal laboratory findings were hypoalbuminemia, low complement, positive Anti-Ro, La, and ANA in a speckled pattern. Tc-99m human serum albumin scintigraphy revealed extravasation within the small bowel. The histopathologic findings showed vacuolar degeneration, upper dermal edema and cleft with perivascular lymphocytic infiltration. Direct IF revealed granular deposition of IgG along the dermo-epidermal junction. The patient was treated with intravenous steroids and oral hydroxychloroquine.
Adult ; Complement System Proteins ; Edema ; Exanthema ; Humans ; Hydroxychloroquine ; Hypoalbuminemia ; Immunoglobulin G ; Lupus Erythematosus, Cutaneous* ; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic ; Male ; Protein-Losing Enteropathies* ; Radionuclide Imaging ; Serum Albumin ; Steroids ; Ulcer

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a sex education program, which was based on the Health Belief Model, on knowledge related to sexually transmitted diseases and sexual autonomy among university students. METHOD: A non-equivalent control group, pretest-posttest design was used. The four session program was delivered to 18 students during 4 weeks; the control group consisted of 23 students. The theme of the first session was "sex, gender, and sexuality: all our concern", "dangerous sex" for the second session, " safe sex" for the third session, and "right sex for you and me" for the fourth session. RESULT: At follow-up, the knowledge related to sexually transmitted diseases and sexual autonomy were significantly greater in the intervention group than in the control group. CONCLUSION: A sex education program with several sessions within the theoretical frame of HBM was effective to improve knowledge related to sexually transmitted diseases and sexual autonomy. The results suggest the potential of a systematic sexual education program to teach healthy sex and to extend the program for other various populations.
Universities ; Students/*psychology ; Sexually Transmitted Diseases/*prevention & control ; *Sexual Behavior ; *Sex Education ; Personal Autonomy ; Male ; Humans ; Female ; Adult

BACKGROUND: A device using radiofrequency and infrared has been used as a nonablative method for producing noninvasive skin tightening. However, the method combining radiofrequency and infrared light has not been used widely for treating both skin wrinkling and tightening. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficacy of a new nonablative Korean medical device, AntiLax(TM) (Jeisys Medical, Seoul, Korea), which uses both radiofrequency and infrared light, on facial wrinkling and laxity. METHODS: Thirty-three patients with facial laxity and wrinkles were enrolled in this study. Three patients failed to complete the three treatment sessions spaced 4 weeks apart so, ultimately, 30 patients completed the scheduled procedure. Serial photographs of the patients were obtained during the study period. A final clinical assessment was made 3 months after the last treatment. Punch biopsies of the treatment areas were obtained 1 week before treatment and 1 month after the last treatment in five patients who agreed to undergo skin biopsies. RESULTS: Doctors' assessments of the photographs taken before and 3 months after the treatment observed marked differences in the effect of treatment on skin laxity, according to location, but no differences in the effect of treatment on skin wrinkling, according to location. The efficacy of treatment of both skin laxity and wrinkling increased with the number of treatments. Patient satisfaction scores paralleled the clinical improvements observed. Secondary benefits reported by patients 3 months after treatment included decreased pore size, reduced sebum secretion, and improved skin texture. The side effects were mild and limited to transient erythema, edema, and rare vesicle formation. Histopathologically, there were increased, thickened collagen fibers 1 month after the last treatment, as compared to pretreatment. However, quantitative morphometric methods are needed to evaluate the histological changes objectively. CONCLUSION: Noninvasive radiofrequency combined with infrared light appears to be a safe, effective method for treating skin laxity and facial wrinkles.
Biopsy ; Collagen ; Edema ; Erythema ; Humans ; Light ; Patient Satisfaction ; Sebum ; Skin ; Skin Aging

Microvenular hemangioma is an uncommon aquired vascular tumor, occurring in young to middle-aged adults of both genders. It usually presents as a small, solitary, purple-to-red papule, nodule or plaque on the extremities or trunk. Histologically, the tumor is composed of small branching venules with collapsed lumina and conspicuous pericytes infiltrating the full thickeness of the reticular dermis. Herein, we report a case of microvenular hemangioma, clinically mimicking Kaposi's sarcoma, on the toe of the right foot in a 44-year old male.
Adult ; Dermis ; Extremities ; Foot ; Hemangioma* ; Humans ; Male ; Pericytes ; Sarcoma, Kaposi* ; Toes ; Venules

BACKGROUND: Alopecia areata is marked by autoimmune assault on the hair follicle resulting in hair loss. T helper 17 cell subset has important roles in protecting the host against extracellular pathogens, however, also promotes inflammatory pathology in autoimmune disease, and it expresses both interleukin (IL)-17A and IL-17F, which can signal via the IL-17 receptor A. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the significance of IL17A and IL17RA gene polymorphisms in the susceptibility to alopecia areata. METHODS: We conducted case-control association study of 238 alopecia areata patients and 270 matched healthy controls. Allele frequency of total 2 single nucleotide polymorphims in the IL17A gene and 4 single nucleotide polymorphims in the IL17RA gene were studied. The statistical analyses were performed according to onset age, the presence of familyhistory, clinical subtypes, and presence of nail involvement or body hair involvement. RESULTS: One single nucleotide polymorphim (rs879577) of IL17RA gene showed significant difference between alopecia areata patients group and controls group (p= 0.0288). One single nucleotide polymorphim (rs4819554) of IL17RA gene showed significant difference between the early onset and late onset alopecia areata (p=0.0421). CONCLUSION: IL17RA gene polymorphism might contribute to the increased susceptibility to alopecia areata in Korean population, and IL17RA gene polymorphism may be associated with onset age.
Age of Onset ; Alopecia ; Alopecia Areata ; Autoimmune Diseases ; Case-Control Studies ; Gene Frequency ; Hair ; Hair Follicle ; Humans ; Interleukin-17 ; Interleukins ; Nails ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide