No abstract available.
Calcium* ; Child* ; Humans

BACKGROUND: Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome is a serious health problem in Korea. Formalin inactivated mouse brain-derived Hantaan virus vaccine (HantavaxR) has been available since 1990 and recom-mended in national immunization programs for children and adults by the health authority. However, Hantavax has not been evaluated for efficacy in a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial and data on neutralizing antibody responses in human trials are limited. To investigate humoral immune responses to Hantavax, we studied volunteers immunized according to the recom-mended two dose schedule. METHODS: With informed consent, 30 healthy adults were immunized with two doses of Hantavax (Lot No. 6001, 2360002) 0.5ml given intramuscularly on deltoid muscle 4 weeks apart. The monovalent vaccine, pro-duced from the ROK 84-105 strain, is inactivated with 0.05% formalin and has an ELISA antigen titer of 4096. Sera were collected before vaccination and 4 weeks after each dose for a total of 90 serum samples from 30 vaccinees. Neutralizing antibodies were measured at Unit-ed States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Disease (Ft. Detrick, MD) in plaque reduction neutrali-zation tests. Antibody titers were expressed as the highest serum dilution that reduced the standard viral dose (45 ~ 58 plaque forming units of Hantaan virus strain 76-118 by 50 percent. Serum binding antibodies also were mea-sured in a high density particle agglutination test (Hanta-dia R) at Yonsei University. RESULTS: Neutralizing antibodies were detected in only 5 of 30 vaccinees given two doses of Hantavax, yielding seroconversion rate of 16.7%. The endpoint titers of reactive sera were 1:320, 1:10, 1:10, 1:10, and 1:40 respectively. The seroconversion rate measured by high density particle agglutination test was 80.0% (24/30). CONCLUSION: These results indicated that the poor neutralizing antibody response observed in this study suggests that further evaluations of the protective effi-cacy of inactivated mouse brain-derived Hantaan virus vaccine against HFRS.
Academies and Institutes ; Adult* ; Agglutination Tests ; Animals ; Antibodies ; Antibodies, Neutralizing* ; Appointments and Schedules ; Child ; Communicable Diseases ; Deltoid Muscle ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Formaldehyde* ; Hantaan virus* ; Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome ; Humans ; Immunity, Humoral ; Immunization Programs ; Informed Consent ; Korea ; Mice* ; Vaccination ; Volunteers

From January 1984 to June 1991, we studied testicular relapsed patients among 105 cases of acute lymphocytic leukemia in children who were admitted to the Department of Pediatrics and Yonsei Cancer Center, Yonsei University Severance Hospital. The results were as follows: 1) 15 out of 105 (14.4%) cases of acute lymphocytic leukemia were diagnosed as testicular relapse. According to the prevalence by the age groups, there were no patient under 2 years old, 14 out of 73 (19.4%) in 2~9 years old and 1 out of 26 (3.8%) over 10 years old groups. 2) At initial diagnosis of acute lymphocytic leukemia there were significant correlation between testicular relapse and initial lymphadenopathy (p=0.09), but not with WBC count, hemoglobin level, platelet count, hepatomegaly and splenomegaly. 3) Mean duration to testicular relapse from initial diagnosis of acute lymphocytic leukemia was 3.1+/-1.7 years. 4) Among 15 patients, 7 cases combined with bone marrow or central nervous system relapse. Their survival rate was lower than isolated testicular relapse groups. 5) The 5 years survival rate of testicular relapsed patients was 67% after the combinations of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and orchiectomy.
Bone Marrow ; Central Nervous System ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Diagnosis ; Drug Therapy ; Hepatomegaly ; Humans ; Lymphatic Diseases ; Orchiectomy ; Pediatrics ; Platelet Count ; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma* ; Prevalence ; Radiotherapy ; Recurrence* ; Splenomegaly ; Survival Rate

No abstract available.
Child* ; Humans ; Lupus Nephritis*

Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is an acquired autoimmune disease that's characterized by subepidermal vesicles and bullae. The etiology for BP is mostly idiopathic, but numerous observations have suggested the role of certain drugs in the occurrence of bullous pemphigoid. Drugs such as penicillamine, furosemide, captopril, enalapril, sulfasalazine and ampicilline have been reported to be associated with bullous pemphigoid. We report here on a new case of bullous pemphigoid that was probably induced by ticlopidine (thienopyridine, adenosine diphosphate receptor inhibitor) in a 78 year old female patient.
Adenosine Diphosphate ; Ampicillin ; Autoimmune Diseases ; Blister ; Captopril ; Enalapril ; Female ; Furosemide ; Humans ; Pemphigoid, Bullous ; Penicillamine ; Sulfasalazine ; Ticlopidine

BACKGROUND: Cheilitis is a common problem, the cause of which is often obscure. OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the frequency of allergic contact cheilitis and irritant contact cheilitis among 23 eczematous cheilitis patients via patch testing and assessment of past medical history. METHODS: This study consisted of 23 patients with eczematous cheilitis who had visited the Department of Dermatology, two University Hospital in Incheon, between January 2005 and August 2006. Of the 23 patients, 20 were female, and the age range was 15 to 70 years. We analyzed the clinical characteristics (age, gender, duration, atopic or allergic disease, lip licking) of the patients. All patients were patch-tested with the Korean standard series, 9 patients with the Cosmetic series and 5 patients with as is test. We then analyzed the results of the patch tests and evaluated the relevance of any positive results. RESULTS: Of the cases, 34.78% were identified as irritant contact dermatitis (ICD), and 30.43% as allergic contact dermatitis (ACD). Furthermore, of the 23 patients, 11 were positive to one or more antigen and 7 of these had a clinical relevance for positive antigen. The substances causing a positive reaction, triggering ACD were identified as medicaments applied to the lip, lipstick ingredients and toothpaste. CONCLUSION: The most common cause of cheilitis was irritation, frequently caused by lip licking. But, almost one third was caused by ACD. Patients with chronic eczematous cheilitis should be patch-tested to identify the materials causing ACD.
Cheilitis* ; Dermatitis, Allergic Contact ; Dermatitis, Contact ; Dermatology ; Female ; Humans ; Incheon ; Lip ; Lip Diseases ; Patch Tests* ; Toothpastes

Neuroendocrine tumors derive from the diffuse neuroendocrine system producing hormonal peptides and/or biogenic amines. Histologically neuroendocrine differentiation includes ultrastructural demonstration of neurosecretory granules and staining with immunhistochemical markers such as neuron-specific enolase, chromogranin, synaptophysin, and cytokeratin. Neuroendocrine carcinoma of the skin is rare but can be shown as an initial manifestation of metastatic neuroendocrine carcinoma as well as primary cutaneous neuroendocrine carcinoma. Histological differentiation between primary cutaneous Merkel cell carcinoma and metastatic neuroendocrine carcinoma of the skin is difficult and clinical correlation is important. We report a case of metastatic neuroendocrine carcinoma of the lung occurring on the scalp as a single nodule in a 65-year-old female who previously diagnosed with adenocarcinoma of the stomach.
Adenocarcinoma ; Aged ; Biogenic Amines ; Carcinoma, Merkel Cell ; Carcinoma, Neuroendocrine ; Female ; Humans ; Keratins ; Lung ; Neuroendocrine Tumors ; Neurosecretory Systems ; Peptides ; Phosphopyruvate Hydratase ; Scalp ; Skin ; Stomach ; Synaptophysin

Acrokeratosis paraneoplastica, or Bazex syndrome, is one of the paraneoplastic syndromes. The characteristic skin lesions include palmoplantar keratoderma, psoriasiform skin lesions, hyperpigmentation, and nail dystrophy. The most common associated neoplasms are squamous cell carcinoma of the upper respiratory tract and other kinds of tumors with cervical lymph node metastasis. A 63-year-old woman presented with an 11 month history of hyperkeratotic lesions on the palms and soles. Ten months before she had been diagnosed with adenocarcinoma of the colon and undergone a left hemicolectomy. We report a case of acrokeratosis paraneoplastica associated with colon cancer which persisted after removal of the primary cancer, but resolved with topical tretinoin treatment.
Adenocarcinoma ; Carcinoma, Basal Cell ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Colon ; Colonic Neoplasms ; Female ; Histiocytoma, Benign Fibrous ; Humans ; Hyperpigmentation ; Hypotrichosis ; Keratoderma, Palmoplantar ; Lymph Nodes ; Middle Aged ; Nails ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Paraneoplastic Syndromes ; Respiratory System ; Skin ; Skin Neoplasms ; Tretinoin

Corals are the marine organism that belongs to the phylum Cnidaria, and are one of the common causes of superficial injury in the marine environment. In addition to acute reactions such as burning or stinging pain and erythema, coral injuries may present with complications such as foreign body reactions, bacterial infections, and/or localized eczematous reactions. A 23-year-old male presented with an erythematous edematous tender patch with centrally grouped vesicles on the left ankle; the injury had occurred during skin-scuba diving 2 days before. A biopsy of the lesion treated with hematoxylin-eosin stain showed epidermal necrosis with subepidermal blisters and neutrophilic panniculitis. Herein we report a case of cellulitis caused by the nematocyst stings of corals.
Anthozoa ; Aquatic Organisms ; Bacterial Infections ; Biopsy ; Bites and Stings ; Blister ; Burns ; Cellulitis ; Cnidaria ; Diving ; Erythema ; Foreign Bodies ; Humans ; Male ; Necrosis ; Nematocyst ; Neutrophils ; Panniculitis ; Young Adult

Elephantiasis nostras verrucosa is an uncommon disorder that is characterized by dermal fibrosis, hyperkeratotic verrucous and papillomatous lesions and this is all caused by chronic non-filarial lymphedema secondary to infections, surgeries, tumor obstructions, radiations, congestive heart failure and obesity. We report here on a case of elephantiasis nostras verrucosa that occurred on the left lower leg of a 54-year-old woman who had a past history of extensive skin grafts and recurrent infection.
Elephantiasis ; Female ; Fibrosis ; Heart Failure ; Humans ; Leg ; Middle Aged ; Non-Filarial Lymphedema ; Obesity ; Skin ; Skin Transplantation ; Transplants