No abstract available.

Pemphigus vulgaris is serious mucocutaneous bullous disease and is rarely reported in this country. The authors had observed a patient with pemphigus vulgaris from its early stage to the autopsy, including a total of five admissions. The patient had satisfactorily responded to low doses of prednisolone (60mg/day) initially and high doses (up to 180mg/day) later, but the patient died unexpectedly during admission. Autopsy finding revealed extensive soft tissue abscesses in both gluteofemoral regions from which Pseudomonas aeruginosa was cultured.

In July 1977 the sociopsychological and medical aspects of prostitution were studied in Songjungli, population over 50, 000, near Kwang-ju city. Most of the prostitutes were helow the age of 28 (80%), had been raised in large families in whic4 female were promiiant and had low levels of education. All of. the girls had their first sexual experience between 15 and 25 with more than half before the age of 19. The first sexual partner was usually a lover, And 45.3% of them became prostitutes within one year of their initial sexual act. Me,inly economic difficulties and family troubles were the major causative factors for turning to prostitution. Most of girls (86%) were practicing contraceptive methods and among them 73% were using oral pills. However, 77% of the girls had become pregnant at least once. A high percentage of the girls (90%) were practicing venereal disease prevention methods and nearly a half of them were practicing douche method immediately after coitus. Among the 115 prostitutes tested, 29 (25. 2%) were VDRL reactive and all VDRL reactive girls were treponema pallidum hemagglutination (TPHA) test positive (100 %).
Coitus ; Contraception ; Education ; Female ; Gwangju ; Hemagglutination ; Humans ; Prostitution ; Sex Workers* ; Sexual Partners ; Sexually Transmitted Diseases ; Syphilis* ; Treponema pallidum

Primary cutaneous cryptococcosis of ulcers and plaques developed on the face of an otherwise healthy 7-year-old boy. Lesions were successfully treated with 10% 5-fluorocytosine ointment under occlusive dressing, Cultures for the organism from the involved area became negative after 10 weeks of treatment but the organism was observed under microscope until 10 weeks after treatment. The extensively ulcerated granulomatous lesions healed with scar formation in 15 weeks. The patient had completed 20 weeks of treatment. Follow-up examination for 1 year showed no evidence of recurrence.
Child ; Cicatrix ; Cryptococcosis* ; Flucytosine* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Occlusive Dressings ; Recurrence ; Ulcer

No abstract available.
Herpes Zoster*

BACKGROUND: Psoriasis is a disease of unknown etiology. Disturbances in lipid metabolism have been suggested as a possible pathogenetic mechanism. OBJECTIVE: The study was performed to investigate the blood lipid, lipoprotein and apolipo-protein levels and their difference according to family history in Korean psoriasis patients. METHODS: Blood samples from seventy three psoriasis patients and twenty three normal persons were measured for total ciolesterol(TC), VLDL-cholesterol(VLDL-C), LDL-cholesterol(LDL-C), HDL-cholesterol(HDL-C), lipoprotein(a) (LPA), triglyceride(TG), apolipoprotein A-I(APO-AI), and apolipoprotein B(AFO-B). Psoriasis patients were divided according to their family history of psoriasis. RESULTS: Compared to ccntrols, TC, LDL-C, LPA, TG, APO-B were significantly elevated in psoriasis patients. Mean varues of LPA and APO-B in psoriasis group were above normal range. VLDL-C were significasitly elevated only in female patients. There was a tendency for psoriasis patients with family history to have higher values than those without family history. CONCLUSION: TC, LDL-C, L,PA, TG, APO-B was increased in psoriasis, especially in the patients with family history, cornpared to control. It is recommended that we must pay attention to the possible risk for the development of cardiac or cerebral vascular disease in psoriasis patients, especially in the presence of family history of psoriasis.
Apolipoproteins ; Apolipoproteins B ; Female ; Humans ; Lipid Metabolism ; Lipoprotein(a) ; Lipoproteins* ; Psoriasis* ; Reference Values ; Vascular Diseases

BACKGROUND: Oral etretinate treatment is associated with the changes in serum lipid concentration and the elevation of serum liver enzymes. In Korea, chronic degenerative diseases like diabetes and hypertension are increasing and the prevalences of HBsAg and chronic liver diseases are much higher than those in western countries. Therefore these changes in serum lipids and liver enzymes during etretinate treatrment are important in Korea as risk factors for atherosclerosis and aggravation of preexisting liver diseases. OBJECTIVE: We tried to observe the sequential pattern, frequency, severity, and relationship between pretreatment value and posttreatment values in the changes of serum lipids and liver enzymes in patients with psoriasis luring etretinate treatment. METHODS: Fourty-one patients with psoriasis were studied during etretinate treatment with the starting dose of 0.5-1.0mg/kg/day. The levels of serum triglyceride, serum cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, and sGOT, sGPT was repeatedly determined until the 16th week of etretinate treatment. RESULTS: l. In serum triglyceride and cholesterol, the average of concentrations in each treatment period was usually higher than pretreatment value during the 16 weeks of treatment, but no sequential pattern of changes was observed 2. The number of patients with the maximum of posttreatment values higher than the normal limit were 12(29.3%) in triglyce side, 6(14.6%) in cholesterol, 0 in sGOT, and 5(12.5%) in sGPT. The number of patients with the minimum of posttreatment values lower than the normal limit were 15(36.6%) in HDL-cholesterol. 3. In serum cholesterol, patients with an abnormal pretreatment value are more prone to elevation above the normal limit duriing etretinate treatment than patients with a normal pretreatment value. CONCLUSION: In patients with psoriasis the increases in serum triglyceride, serum cholesterol, sGOT, sGPT and the decrease in HDL-cholesterol were occurred frequently during etretinate treatment. Therefore monitoring of serum lipid concentration and serum liver enzyme levels on a regular basis during etretinate treatment is essential for its safe use in patients with psoriasis, es- pecially in cases of long term etretinate treatment.
Acitretin* ; Alanine Transaminase ; Aspartate Aminotransferases ; Atherosclerosis ; Cholesterol ; Etretinate* ; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Korea ; Liver Diseases ; Liver* ; Prevalence ; Psoriasis* ; Risk Factors ; Triglycerides

Polymorphic pemphigoid is a polymorphic variant of bullous pemphigoid. Tbe authors had observed a case of polymorphic pemphigoid in a 54-year-ald woman, in whom generalized chronic blistering lesions and aevere pruritus were the main symptoms. The diagnosis of polymorphic pemphigoid was based on clinical, histopa.thological, immunopathological and therapeutic features.
Blister ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Pemphigoid, Bullous* ; Pruritus

We report a case of linear scleroderrna associated with severe musculoskeletal atrophy of Ieft arm or disabling pansclerotic morphea of children. The patient was 11 year-old girl who has 8 years history of linear violaceoushued atrophic plaques on left arm and anterior chest, left sboulder region in a circumscribed sclerotic lesion. She had a history of injury on left forearrn at 3 years of age. One, month later, erythematous swelling and hardening of skin on left hand were developed and then progressed rapidlyfto other area for one year. However there was no signs of dyspnea, dysphagia, Raynauds phenomenon, myalgia, weakness and photcsensitivity. Diagnosis was confirmed by the characteristics of clinical features and histologic findings of skin and muscle and laboratory findings. As a therapeutic trial, low dose D-penicillamine was attempted.
Arm ; Atrophy* ; Child ; Deglutition Disorders ; Diagnosis ; Dyspnea ; Female ; Hand ; Humans ; Myalgia ; Penicillamine ; Scleroderma, Localized* ; Skin ; Thorax ; Upper Extremity*

Erythrasma is a chronic, superficial bacterial skin infection involving the body folds and toewebs, and sametimes it may be generalized. The causative organism of this disease is Corynebacterium minutissimum. But, in Korea, there are few reported case about this common condition. We experienced a case of erythrasma on 39-year-old male who have had well defined, brownish fine scaly patches on both crural areas for 15 years. We had treated this patient with topical antifungal agent for 1 month under impression of tinea cruris, But skin lesion was not improved. So, we reexamined the lesion and diagnosed it as genitocrural form of erythrasma with it's clinical appearance, red fluorescence under Wood's light. And we treated it with oral erythromycin.
Adult ; Corynebacterium ; Erythrasma* ; Erythromycin ; Fluorescence ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Skin ; Tinea