Incontinentia pigmenti is an uncommon neurocutaneous genodermatosis characterized by three stages; vesicular lesions, verrucous lesions and hyperpigmentation. A two-week-old female infant showed grouped erythema-based vesiculopustules on the whole body since birth. One month later, vesiculopustular lesions began to disappear gradually. At this time, she developed linear verrucous plaques on the dorsum of the feet and hands and reticulated hyperpigmented patches on the lower extremities. At 2 months of age, vesicular lesions completely disappeared and the pigmented patches spread to the abdomen which became darker with time. The verrucous lesions diminished at 3 months of age. There were no neurological or ocular defects. We describe a case of incontinentia pigmenti with typical clinical and pathological features at each stage.
Abdomen ; Female ; Foot ; Hand ; Humans ; Hyperpigmentation ; Incontinentia Pigmenti* ; Infant ; Lower Extremity ; Parturition

We rep a case of vulvar syringoma in a 32-year-old woman who had pruritus vulvae for 2 years. An examination of both the labia major revealed slightly thickened hyperpigmented or hypopigmented patches without yellow papules. A skin punch biopsy revealed characteristic histological findings of syringoma. Syringoma of the vulva is a rare disorder and is usually asymptomatic. Five cases of vulvar syringoma preriously reported in the Korean literature all had asymptomatic yellow or brown colored papules, but this case presented here was clinically considered as pruritus vulvae.
Adult ; Biopsy ; Female ; Humans ; Pruritus Vulvae* ; Pruritus* ; Skin ; Syringoma* ; Vulva

Dermatofibroma with granular cells is composed mainly of spindle shaped cells mixed with in-conspicuous foamy cells that contain granular cytoplasm. We present a case of dermatofibroma with granular cells in a 36-year-old male who visited our clinic to evaluate a slow-growing nodule on the medial side of the left lawer leg. He have had the nodule for five years and sometimes felt an itching sensation. Biopsy of the nodule identified a dermal nodular tumor showing cellular spindle cell proliferation admixed with peripheral foamy histiocytes. With the immunohistochemical staining, the granular cell was positive for alpha-1-antitrypsin and CD68, and negative for S-100. A few electron-dense granules were seen in the cytoplasm on the electronmicroscopic study. These results suggested that the granular cells originated from histiocytes.
Adult ; Biopsy ; Cell Proliferation ; Cytoplasm ; Histiocytes ; Histiocytoma, Benign Fibrous* ; Humans ; Leg ; Male ; Pruritus ; Sensation

BACKGROUND: There is a long-standing controversy whether melanocytes in vitiligo of more than 1 year duration are actually lost or still present. Resolving this matter is essential in understanding the underlying pathology and for the development of the treatment. On previous immunohistochemical and ultrastructural studies of vitiligo lesions, damage of melanocyte and keratinocyte in early lesions were reported and complete absence of melanocyte in long standing lesions were known. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the existence of the differences in pathologic changes in melanocytes according to the duration of the lesion. METHODS: We investigated the vitiliginous skin samples from 31 patients with early(less than 1 year duration) vitiligo and 30 patients with long standing(l to 5 years duration) vitiligo under the electron microscopy. RESULTS: Multiple degenerative changes in melanocytes were observed in the early and long standing lesions. In long standing lesions, degeneration of melanocytes including pyknotic, in-dented nuclei, vacuolated cytoplasms and blunted dendrites were more pronounced than early lesions. Even in long standing lesions, definite or presumptive melanocytes were observed in 16(53.3%) of 30 cases. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the melanocytes of vitiligo lesions were damaged and that the percentage of degenerative changes increase in accordance with the duration of the lesion. However, in long standing lesions as well as in early lesions, some residual melanocytes can be observed ultrastructurally.
Cytoplasm ; Dendrites ; Humans ; Keratinocytes ; Melanocytes ; Microscopy, Electron ; Pathology ; Skin ; Vitiligo*

We treated a case of extramammary Paget's disease that affected the scalp of a 45-year-old female. It is extremely rare that the disease arises in areas other than the anogenital region and the axillae. The lesion was a round erythematous oozing crusted hairless patch. Histopathologically, many pagetoid cells were found within the epidermis and dermis. The cytoplasms of these cells stained with alcian blue at pH 2.5, CEA, EMA and low-molecular-weight-cytokeratin. The patient underwent a wide local excision. We used a mapping technique to reveal the distribution of microscopically involved lesions.
Alcian Blue ; Axilla ; Cytoplasm ; Dermis ; Epidermis ; Female ; Humans ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Middle Aged ; Paget Disease, Extramammary* ; Scalp*

A congenital ectopic nail is a rare anomaly and usually manifests itself as a small abnormal nail appearing alongside the normal nail. In most of the cases, abnormal nails have been found on the palmar surface of the fifth finger. The pathogenesis of the ectopic nail remains unclear. It has been postulated to be a kind of polydactyly or generation from stray germ cell or inoculation of the nail matrix after trauma. We observed a case of a 5-month-old boy with congenital ectopic toenail on the right second toe. The ectopic toenail was removed by surgical excision and the histopathological finding was consistent with ectopic toenail. We report a case of congenital ectopic toenail on the right second toe of a 5-month-old boy.
Fingers ; Germ Cells ; Humans ; Infant ; Nails ; Nails, Malformed ; Polydactyly ; Toes

Leukocytoclastic vasculitis is a small vessel inflammatory disease, mediated mostly by deposition of immune complexes. Medications cause 10~24% of cases of leukocytoclastic vasculitic skin lesions, but warfarin has rarely been implicated. We report a case of warfarin-induced leukocytoclastic vasculitis in a 72-year-old woman which developed 45 days after warfarin medication. Palpable purpura, hemorrhagic vesicles, and ulcers developed on both lower legs. A skin biopsy showed characteristic features of leukocytoclastic vasculitis. Warfarin was replaced by clopidogrel, and the skin lesions gradually disappeared after 3 weeks.
Aged ; Antigen-Antibody Complex ; Biopsy ; Female ; Glycosaminoglycans ; Humans ; Leg ; Purpura ; Skin ; Ticlopidine ; Ulcer ; Vasculitis ; Vasculitis, Leukocytoclastic, Cutaneous ; Warfarin

Decubitus ulcer is a pressure-induced ischemia-reperfusion injury overlying a bony prominence. Various dressing methods have been developed to treat it, but clinical management is still a challenging practice. A patient presented with stage IV decubitus ulcer on the left lateral side of the buttock, which was caused by compulsively lying down on the left side due to schizophrenia. The ulcer was resistant to occlusive dressing method for five weeks. However, the patient successfully recovered in three weeks by our applying a negative pressure dressing with the portable vacuum-assisted closure (VAC) system. Our experience shows negative pressure dressing can be effectively used to treat intractable decubitus ulcer in outpatient settings.
Bandages ; Buttocks ; Deception ; Humans ; Negative-Pressure Wound Therapy ; Occlusive Dressings ; Outpatients ; Pressure Ulcer ; Reperfusion Injury ; Schizophrenia ; Ulcer

A 19 year old female patient presented with diffuse alopecia as her chief medical complaint. A clinical examination revealed hirsutism limited only to the on midline lower abdomen with elevated DHEA-S(dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate) and total testosterone levels. Polycystic ovarian disease (PCOD) was diagnosed during the treatment with dexamethasone and spironolactone, which was effective to improve her alopecia. We believe that, with increasing, concerns about hair conditions of teen-age girls there should be increasing chances for dermatologists to care for patients of PCOD first before other specialities in medicine.
Abdomen ; Alopecia* ; Dexamethasone ; Female* ; Hair ; Hirsutism ; Humans ; Ovarian Diseases* ; Spironolactone ; Testosterone ; Young Adult

BACKGROUND: Xanthelasma palpebrarum is the most common type of xanthoma. Due to its delicate location near the eye, treatment of xanthelasma palpebrarum is rather difficult. The treatment includes surgical excision, local treatment with chemicals, and various laser therapies. OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to review the various therapeutic modalities and to evaluate the efficacy and safety of bichloroacetic acid (BCA) for the treatment of xanthelasma palpebrarum. METHODS: Nine patients, with a total of 19 xanthelasma lesions, were treated with BCA. The efficacy and safety were assessed over a follow-up period of 6 to 24 months (average, 16 months). RESULTS: All lesions were grossly removed completely with a single treatment and the treatment was well-tolerated by patients. Erythema and oozing were observed in six patients but improved after two weeks' dressing. Xanthelasma palpebrarum recurred in three patients, but the mean size of the recurred lesions was smaller in comparison to the primary lesion. CONCLUSION: BCA is an effective and safe therapeutic modality for xanthelasma palpebrarum. Advantages include simplicity, cost-effectiveness, speed, safety and efficacy.
Bandages ; Dichloroacetic Acid* ; Erythema ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Laser Therapy ; Xanthomatosis