BACKGROUND: Previous studies suggested that Pityrosporum may play an important role in the pathogenesis of dandruff. OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to study the statistical and mycobgic findings of dandruff in normal subjects for better understanding of this condition. MEHTODS: Scales frorn the scalp of 384 students were studied stastistically by answer sheets and clinically by a dermatologist. Mycologic studies of Pityrosporum were also performed by direct smear, culture and inoculation to guinea pigs. RESULTS: There were 76.0% subjects with dandruff. Clinically grading the subjects by Kligrnan's scale, grade III and IV(mild caling) were the most. Dandruff developed commonly at the age of 14 to 16, and no seasonal change was observed. Spores of Pityrosporum were observed in all subjects by KOH microscopic examination with Cohens method, and the grading of the dandruff was not related with the number of the spores. In most subjects, P. orbiculare and P. ovae were found together. Positive culture colonies were observed in 93.7%. Inoculation of the cultured colonies to guinea pigs resulted in an experimental dermatitis. CONCLUSION: Our study shows that Pityrosporum may involve in the pathogenesis of dandruff; however, it is still unclear whether Pityrosporum is a main causative agent of dandruff.
Animals ; Dandruff* ; Dermatitis ; Guinea Pigs ; Humans ; Malassezia ; Ovum ; Scalp ; Seasons ; Spores ; Weights and Measures

BACKGROUND: Seborrheic dermatitis is a very common chronic inflammatory disease. Previous studies suggested that, Pityrosporum, lipophilic fungi, may play an important role in the pathogenesis of the disease. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the disease clinically and mycologically for better understanding of the pathogenesis. METHODS: Two hundred and one new patient.s with seborrheic dermatitis of the scalp and 67 norrnal subjects were obs!,rved clinically by the dermatologist and studied stat,istically by questionnaires. A mycologic study of Pityrosporum was also performed by direct smear. RESULTS: Among a total of 201 patients wit,h seborrheic dermatitis, 72.6% had pityriasis sicca, 10.5% had pityr iasis steartoides and 16.9% had inflammatory seborrheic dermatitis. On clinical grading by the Kligman.. scale, grade III(slightly scaling) was the most common in the patients and 52.6% of the norma. subjects were below grade II (no scaling). Spores of Pityrosporum were observed in 76.7% of the patients and 91.5% of the normal subjects. The incidence of Pityrosporum was lower particularly in t,he patients with inflammatory seborrheic dermatitis t,han in other pa~tients groups. CONCLUSION: According to the results of the study, it, is difficult to conclude that Pityrosporum is a main causative ager t of seborrheic dermatitis. In addition, it is thought t.hat further studies of the role of Pityrosporum in seborrheic dermatitis are needed.
Dermatitis, Seborrheic* ; Fungi ; Humans ; Incidence ; Malassezia* ; Pityriasis ; Scalp* ; Spores ; Surveys and Questionnaires

BACKGROUND: Seborrheic dermatitis is a very common chronic inflammatory disease. Previous studies suggested that, Pityrosporum, lipophilic fungi, may play an important role in the pathogenesis of the disease. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the disease clinically and mycologically for better understanding of the pathogenesis. METHODS: Two hundred and one new patient.s with seborrheic dermatitis of the scalp and 67 norrnal subjects were obs!,rved clinically by the dermatologist and studied stat,istically by questionnaires. A mycologic study of Pityrosporum was also performed by direct smear. RESULTS: Among a total of 201 patients wit,h seborrheic dermatitis, 72.6% had pityriasis sicca, 10.5% had pityr iasis steartoides and 16.9% had inflammatory seborrheic dermatitis. On clinical grading by the Kligman.. scale, grade III(slightly scaling) was the most common in the patients and 52.6% of the norma. subjects were below grade II (no scaling). Spores of Pityrosporum were observed in 76.7% of the patients and 91.5% of the normal subjects. The incidence of Pityrosporum was lower particularly in t,he patients with inflammatory seborrheic dermatitis t,han in other pa~tients groups. CONCLUSION: According to the results of the study, it, is difficult to conclude that Pityrosporum is a main causative ager t of seborrheic dermatitis. In addition, it is thought t.hat further studies of the role of Pityrosporum in seborrheic dermatitis are needed.
Dermatitis, Seborrheic* ; Fungi ; Humans ; Incidence ; Malassezia* ; Pityriasis ; Scalp* ; Spores ; Surveys and Questionnaires

PURPOSE: The therapeutic dose of cytokine for patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma is very high and leads to toxic side effects and a substantial cost to the patients. Interleukin-2(IL-2) could be released continuously and slowly in the host by genetic engineering of IL-2 genes and increase host immunity with decreasing the a verse effects of the drug. We investigated the IL-2 gene expression, amplification of viral titer, and transduction of IL-2 gene into human renal cell carcinoma cell line with retroviral vectors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: For the production of retroviral vectors with the IL-2 gene, we used PA-317 as a packaging cell and Caki-2 as a renal cell carcinoma cell. Retroviral supernatants were added to culture flask containing Caki-2 cells and after 48 hours, replacement with a media containing G418(Gibco, Grand Island, NY) 800 microgram/m1 was done for selection of transfected colonies. The selected colonies were cultured and then measured the amount of IL-2 production per 1xl0(6) for 24 hours using an ELISA assay kit(BioSource International, USA) for IL-2. RESULTS: Thirteen colonies were selected and the amount of IL-2 production was 143.1 +/-75.3pg/m1/10(6) cells/24hr(range: 51.5-370.7). CONCLUSIONS: The success of transduction of the IL-2 gene into human renal cell carcinoma cell lines with a retroviral vector will give a possibility in gene therapy for advanced renal cell carcinoma and may have promising results
Carcinoma, Renal Cell* ; Cell Line* ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Gene Expression ; Genetic Engineering ; Genetic Therapy ; Humans* ; Interleukin-2* ; Product Packaging ; Zidovudine*

No abstract available.
Trichosporon*

Angiocentric lymphoma is a lymphoma like lesion which has been known as a lethal midline granuloma, lymphomatoid granulomatosis and polymorphic reticulosis. It involves predominantly lungs, and other extranodal sites such as upper respiratory tract, skin, kidneys, peripheral nervous system and CNS. The authors experienced a case of angiocentric lymphoma which was misdiagnosed as orbital cellulitis because there were persistent epiphora, erythematous swelling in dacryocyst area and diffuse edema in upper and lower eyelids which occurred after functional endoscopic sinus surgery. This case was diagnosised as angiocentric lymphoma through multiple tissue biopsies. This disease is rare, especially in orbit and eyelid. It leads to the destruction and inflammation of tissue. To avoid misdiagnosis to orbital cellulitis, accurate biopsy is needed with the interchange of clinical informations with pathologist. We report this case with the review of literatures.
Biopsy ; Diagnosis ; Diagnostic Errors ; Edema ; Eyelids ; Granuloma, Lethal Midline ; Inflammation ; Kidney ; Lacrimal Apparatus Diseases ; Lung ; Lymphoma* ; Lymphomatoid Granulomatosis ; Orbit ; Orbital Cellulitis ; Peripheral Nervous System ; Respiratory System ; Skin

Herein, we describe the first case of renal intravascular large B cell lymphoma in Korea occurring in a 66-year-old female. She presented with mild fever and dyspnea. On physical and laboratory evaluations, hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis was suspected, but the bone marrow biopsy results were unremarkable. During the work-up, massive proteinuria developed, which led to a renal biopsy. The renal architecture was relatively well-preserved, but the glomeruli were hypercellular with the infiltration of atypical, large lymphoid cells with increased nucleus-cytoplasm ratio and clumped chromatin. Similar cells were also present in the peritubular capillaries. The tumor cells exhibited membranous staining for CD20 and CD79a. After the diagnosis of intravascular large B cell lymphoma, the patient received rituximab-based chemotherapy under close follow-up.

BACKGROUND: Seborrheic dermatitis and atopic dermatitis are clinically different diseases, but symptoms and signs of both seborrheic dermatitis and atopic dermatitis often can be found simultaneously in one patient. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to (1) investigate if patients with either seborrheic dermatitis or atopic dermatitis have the symptoms and signs of both disease entities at the same time, and (2) study the relationship between Malassezia species on the scalp and each of the diseases. METHOD: Eighty five patients with seborrheic dermatitis on the scalp, the Pityriasis sicca type, and 79 patients with atopic dermatitis and 76 normal subjects were observed clinically by the dermatologist and studied statistically using questionaires. A mycological study of Malassezia species was also performed by direct smearing. RESULT: Among the 21 items of questionaires regarding the symptoms and signs of seborrheic dermatitis, the patients with atopic dermatitis showed higher incidences in 7 items compared with normal subjects, and among the 22 items of questionaires regarding the symptoms and signs of atopic dermatitis, the patients with seborrheic dermatitis showed higher incidences in 2 items than the normal subjects. The patients regarded their skin conditions as follows : the mixed state of dried and oily skin was in 32.9% of the patients with atopic dermatitis, 42.4% of those with seborrheic dermatitis, and 43.4% of the normal subjects. On clinical grading by the Kligman's scale, the most common grade was below grade II(no scaling) in patients with atopic dermatitis and grade III(slight scaling) in patients with seborrheic dermatitis, respectively. The spores of Malassezia species were found in 83.6% of the patients with atopic dermatitis, 96.2% of those with seborrheic dermatitis, and 90.6% of the normal subjects. CONCLUSION: According to the results of the study, the patients with atopic dermatitis showed higher incidences of symptoms and signs of seborrheic dermatitis than normal subjects and there was no difference in the number of spores and hyphae of Malassezia species among the three groups. Further studies will be needed to elucidate the relationship between sebonheic dermatitis and atopic dermatitis.
Dermatitis ; Dermatitis, Atopic* ; Dermatitis, Seborrheic* ; Humans ; Hyphae ; Incidence ; Malassezia* ; Pityriasis ; Scalp ; Skin ; Spores ; Surveys and Questionnaires

PURPOSE: Mycoplasma pneumoniae is one of the most common causes of pneumonia in children and adolescents. Though cold agglutinin test and specific antibody test are used in the diagnosis of mycoplasma pneumonia, there are some limitations in early diagnosis. In this study, we evaluated the availability and usefulness of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in the diagnosis of M. pneumoniae pneumonia and compared it with serologic test. METHODS: One hundred twenty four children who were clinically diagnosed with pneumonia and admitted to Kyunghee Hospital from January 1998 to March 2001 were enrolled. Mycoplasma specific antibody test using commercial kit (Serodia-MYCO II, Fusirebio Inc., Tokyo, Japan) and PCR using mycoplasma DNA obtained from throat swabs were done. The sensitivity and specificity of PCR were evaluated. RESULTS: M. pneumoniae pneumonia was diagnosed when the mycoplasma specific antibody titer was over 1: 160 or when the titer increased more than fourfold during follow-up period. The specificity, sensitivity, false-positive rate and false-negative rates of PCR were 93.0%, 58.3%, 33.3%. and 9.7%, respectively. CONCLUSION: PCR has shown high specificity. But, the positive result in PCR don't correlate with the disease activity and PCR does not have high sensitivity. So PCR must be used alongside with serologic test in the diagnosis of pneumonia. But, it seems possible to improve sensitivity by delicate handling of samples and by improving PCR technology, and PCR will possibly be used in the diagnosis of early infections of M. pneumoniae pneumonia and in the evaluation of treatments in the future.
Adolescent ; Child* ; Diagnosis ; DNA ; Early Diagnosis ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Mycoplasma pneumoniae* ; Mycoplasma* ; Pharynx ; Pneumonia* ; Pneumonia, Mycoplasma* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction* ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Serologic Tests

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the fixation strength and tissue reaction of the glue fixation and self-stabilizing leg fixation methods and to compare the results with those of the conventional tagging suture fixation method. MATER AND METHODS: Twelve healthy rabbits were selected and three different methods of implanting the port chamber were employed on the back of each rabbit. A total of thirty six port chambers were implanted with these three different methods, viz. the glue fixation method using tissue adhesive, the self-stabilizing leg method using a self-expandable stabilizing leg, and the suture fixation method. The fixation strength and the gross and histopathologic changes of each fixation method were evaluated at three days, one week, two weeks and four weeks after port implantation. RESULTS: The glue fixation method showed a good fixation strength, which was similar to that of the tagging suture method (p=0.3486). Five of the six ports (83%) implanted with the glue fixation method which were examined after two weeks showed cracks on the external surface, but this had no adverse effects on their function. A large amount of granulation tissue reaction was found at the bottom of the chamber (p=0.0025). The fixation with the self-stabilizing leg showed relatively lower fixation strength (p=0.0043), but no turning-over of the chamber occurred. The fixation strength improved with time after the first week, and minimal granulation tissue reaction was observed with this method. CONCLUSION: The glue fixation method exhibited equal fixation strength compared to the suture fixation, but showed cracking and a large amount of granulation tissue, whereas the fixation with a self-stabilizing leg showed weaker fixation strength.
Alloys ; Animals ; Capillaries/cytology/metabolism/pathology ; Cell Proliferation ; Device Removal ; Enbucrilate/therapeutic use ; *External Fixators ; Fibroblasts/metabolism/pathology ; Granulation Tissue/blood supply/metabolism/pathology ; *Implants, Experimental ; Models, Animal ; Rabbits ; Sutures/*utilization ; Time Factors ; Tissue Adhesives/*therapeutic use