In about 20 to 30 percent of cases with organoid nevus (nevus sebaceus), benign and/or ma-al lignant tumors of the epidermis and adnexae may develop. We describe a 71-year-old woman with sebaceous carcinoma and basal cell epithelioma developed in organoid nevus.
Aged ; Carcinoma, Basal Cell* ; Epidermis ; Female ; Humans ; Nevus* ; Organoids*

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of patients over the age of 25 years with acne has significantly increased over the past 10 years. Several etiologic factors such as genetic factor, hyperandrogenism, stress, and cosmetics have been studied. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the differences between adolescent acne and post-adolescent acne, based on the clinical features, asoociated diseased and aggravating factors of 327 acne patients. METHODS: 327 consective patients, first visited to our hospital with clinical facial acne between March 2000 and February 2001, were enrolled. 220 adolescent patients(AP) were under the age of 25 and post-adolescent patients(PP) were over age of 25. RESULTS: 1. In the face, cheeks and forehead in adolescents, chin and cheeks in post-adolescents were predilection sites. The predominant type was a comedonal type in adolescents and a papulopustular type in post-adolescents(P<0.05). Severity of inflammatory type was not different between two groups. Familial factors were important in both groups, but more frequently found in post-adolescents with persistent acne(P<0.05). 2. Rosacea, chloasma, and hyperandrogenic features such as hirsutism and androgenetic alopecia were more frequently observed in post-adolescents. Seborrheic and atopic dermatitis were more frequent in adolescents. Four patients had all the features of chloasma, acne, rosacea, seborrheic dermatitis and hirsutism. 3. Aggravation by weason especially summer, sweating, stress, and cosmetics was more frequent in adolescents. In PP, acne was more frequently aggravated by sunlight, foods and menstrual period. CONCLUSION: Post-adolescent acne was mainly a papulopustular type predominantly located on the chin and cheeks with mild to moderated severity, and family history and hyperandrogenism were strong etiologic factors in persistent acne. Aggravating factors were not significantly different between two group, which suggested cosmetics and stress might not be important in post adolescent acne.
Acne Vulgaris* ; Adolescent* ; Alopecia ; Cheek ; Chin ; Dermatitis, Atopic ; Dermatitis, Seborrheic ; Forehead ; Hirsutism ; Humans ; Hyperandrogenism ; Melanosis ; Prevalence ; Rosacea ; Sunlight ; Sweat ; Sweating

BACKGROUND: The hypereosinophilic syndrome(HES) represents a leukoproliferative process likely caused by a number of disorders, all of which are marked by sustained over-production of eosinophils. OBJECTIVES: The purposes of this study were aimed at evaluating the clinical and histopathological characteristics of HES. METHODS: The medical records and hist opathological slides of patients with HES who had skin biopsies performed in our department were reviewed. Criteria for the diagnosis of HES include (1) peripheral blood eosinophilia with eosinophil counts greater than 1,500/L for at least 6 months; (2) no evidence of parasitic, allergic, or other known causes of eosinophilia; and (3) presumptive signs and symptoms of multiple organ involvement. RESULTS: Four male and three female patients were included. HES developed in adulthood or old age (mean, 43.4 years). Because only the patients with cutaneous involvement were included, all the patients showed skin lesions. Heart, liver, stomach, nervous system, lymph nodes, and lung were involved organs in decreasing order of frequency. At the onset of HES, 40 to 80% of white blood cells were eosinophils in peripheral blood. White blood cell count and serum IgE level were elevated in all the tested patients. In six patients (85.7%), the level of serum erythrocyte sedimentation rate was elevated. Persistent hypereosinophilia (>1,500/L) was present for longer than 6 months in all patients. Stool examination and skin test for parasitic infestation all gave negative results. All the patients were not taking any medication. Histopathological examinations revealed perivascular mixed inflammatory cell infiltration; predominantly eosinophils in the stomach, liver, and nerve as well as in the skin. Interestingly, two patients who were presented with skin lesions showed the findings of eosinophilic vasculitis. In these patients, the skin lesions were consisted of Raynaud's phenomenon, digital gangrene, and several erythematous plaques. The most common cutaneous manifestations were papules and nodules on the extremities. The main treatment modality was systemic steroid. Except for one patient presented with central nervous system involvement of HES, all the patients were in a well-controlled state. In one patient with the typical clinical and hematologic features of HES, Hodgkin's disease followed. After the complete remission of Hodgkin's disease with chemotherapy, HES subsided. CONCLUSIONS: HES is a heterogenous collection of disorders marked by hypereosinophilia and organ damage. Most common cutaneous manifestations were papules and nodules on the extremities. Raynaud's phenomenon and digital gangrene can be the primary manifestation of HES in which cases cutaneous lesions showed eosinophilic vasculitis. Five patients (71%) responded well to systemic steroids. HES may be a herald of malignancy such as Hodgkin's disease. Further investigation will be mandatory ro elucidate the etiology and pathogenesis of HES.
Biopsy ; Blood Sedimentation ; Central Nervous System ; Diagnosis ; Drug Therapy ; Eosinophilia ; Eosinophils ; Extremities ; Female ; Gangrene ; Heart ; Hodgkin Disease ; Humans ; Hypereosinophilic Syndrome* ; Immunoglobulin E ; Leukocyte Count ; Leukocytes ; Liver ; Lung ; Lymph Nodes ; Male ; Medical Records ; Nervous System ; Skin ; Skin Tests ; Steroids ; Stomach ; Vasculitis

BACKGROUND: Warts are common virus-induced lesions that are troublesome to treat, especially in children. Recently, some trials have suggested that the pulsed dye laser may also be useful for the treatment of warts. OBJECTIVE: To determine the effectiveness and safety of 585nm flashlamp-pumped pulsed dye laser treatment of warts. METHODS: Fifty patients representing a total of 265 warts were recruited for the study. Patients were treated using the flashlamp-pumped pulsed dye laser with a pulse duration of 450 sec, a spot size of 5mm, and energy fluence ranging between 7 to 9 J/cm2. Patients in whom no visible evidence of warts remained before 5 treatment sessions were classified as 'cured'. RESULTS: The cure rates were 89% for hand warts, 21% for plantar warts, 58% for periungual or subungual warts, 98% for limb warts and 100% for facial warts. Significant difference in the clearance rate of warts was found according to the maximum diameter of warts (≤0.3cm, >0.3cm) (<0.05). CONCLUSION: The 585nm flashlamp-pumped pulsed dye laser had potential effectiveness for the treatment of small warts on the hands, face, and limbs, but it is less effective for plan-tar warts, or larger warts.
Child ; Extremities ; Hand ; Humans ; Lasers, Dye* ; Warts*

Intravascular fasciitis (IVF), a rare distinct variant of nodular fasciitis, possesses the same clinical and histologcal features of nodular fasciitis, but in addition, involves predominantly small to medium- sized veins and/or arteries intraluminally, intramurally and extramurally. Only 3 cases of intraoral IVF have been reported in the English literature. Herein we report a case of IVF developing on the inner lower lip and it was successfully treated with simple excision.
Arteries ; Fasciitis* ; Lip ; Veins

OBJECTIVE: Previous studies have demonstrated that axon regeneration or remyelination after spinal cord injury occurs when provided with a suitable substratum such as fetal spinal cord (FSC). We carry out this study to determine whether FSC transplants can reduce the glial scar at the interface between host and graft. METHODS: Hemisectioned spinal cord injury was made by aspiration at T3 or T4 spinal cord level in rat. Cell suspension of E-14 FSC was introduced into the injured cavity contaning glial scar tissue. To indentify the transplanted cells from host tissue, FSC cells were labeled with DiI. Rats were sacrificed at 1, 2, 3, and 8 weeks after transplanation and spinal cord was undergone serial sections for immunocytochemistry and histological observation. The observation by electron microscope was carried out too. RESULTS: We could observe that the FSC transplants survived in host spinal cord and generally occupied most of the neuron-depleted area. Examination of serial sections through the graft-host interface which had been immunoreacted for glial fibrillary acidic protein demonstrated that the glial scar was no longer a continuous wall separating the graft and host tissues at eight weeks after injury. We could observe oligodendrocyte and the reformed myelin at the interface by electron microscope. CONCLUSION: The fetal spinal cord transplant can reduce an established glial scar or restrict the reformation of a scar following surgical manipulation, and that the FSC transplant can promote remyelination.
Animals ; Axons ; Cicatrix ; Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein ; Immunohistochemistry ; Myelin Sheath ; Oligodendroglia ; Rats* ; Regeneration ; Spinal Cord Injuries ; Spinal Cord* ; Transplants

BACKGROUND: pH measurement is an important test in assessing the etiology of pleurisy and in identifying complicated parapneumonic effusion. Although the blood gas analyzer is the' gold standard method' for pleural pH measurement, pH meter & pH strip methods are also used for this purpose interchangably. However, the correlation among the pH data measured by the three different methods needs to be evaluated. In this study, we measured the pH of pleural fluid with the three different methods respectively and evaluated the correlation among the measured data. METHODS: From August 1999 to March 2000, were measured the pleural fluid pH in 34 clinical samples with three methods-blood gas analyzer, pH meter, and pH strip. In the blood gas analyzer and pH meter methods, the temperature of plerual fluid was maintained around 0℃ in air-tight condition before analysis and measurement was performed within 30 minutes after collection. As for the pH strip method, the pleural fluid pH was checked in the ward immediately after tapping and in the clinical laboratory of our hospital. This part is unclear. RESULTS: The causes of pleural effusion were tuberculosis pleurisy in 16 cases, malignant pleural effusion 5 cases, parapneumonic effusion 9 cases, empyema 3 cases, and congestive heart failure 1 case. The pH of pleural fluid (mean±SD) was 7.34±0.12 with blood gas analyser, 7.52±0.25 with pH meter, 7.37±0.16 with pH strip of immediate measurement and 6.93±0.201 with pH strip of delayed measurement. The pH measured by delayed pH strip measurement was lower than those of other methods(p<0.05). The correlation of the results between the blood gas analyzer and pH meter(p=0.002, r=0.518) and the blood gas analyzer and pH strip of immediate measurement(p<0.001, r=0.607). CONCLUSION: In the determination of pH of pleural fluid, pH strip method could be a simple and reliable method under immediate measurement conditions after fluid tapping.
Empyema ; Heart Failure ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration* ; Methods* ; Pleural Effusion ; Pleural Effusion, Malignant ; Pleurisy ; Tuberculosis

Pleomorphic adenoma is the most common tumor of parotid glands, presented clinically as an asymptomatic slowly growing tumor of pre-or infra-auricular area. In dermatologic department, it can be clinically misdiagnosed as various dermal or subcutaneous tumors. We describe herein a patient who had a pleomorphic adenoma and an epidermal cyst, which appeared similar subcutaneous nodules and diagnosed separately by its characteristic pathologic findings.
Adenoma, Pleomorphic* ; Epidermal Cyst ; Humans ; Parotid Gland

Folliculosebaceous cystic hamartoma(FCH) is a rare tumor of characteristic clinical and histological features. Histological findings are intradermal cystic structures lined by infundibular epithelium, numerous sebaceous lobules radiating from cystic structures and surrounding stroma composed of mesenchymal changes including variable proportions of fibrous, adipose, vascular and neural tissues. We describe a case of FCH associated with perifollicular mucinosis, which is unusual finding.
Epithelium ; Hamartoma* ; Mucinoses

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is a ubiquitous, Gram-negative organism. It is an emerging causative pathogen for severe hospital- acquired infections, particularly in debilitated or immunocompromised patients because of its resistance to various antibiotics. Soft tissue infection caused by S. maltophilia, however, is uncommon. A patient with leukemia was referred for the evaluation of subcutaneous nodules that developed after chemotherapy. With the pathological finding of neutrophilic panniculitis, S. maltophilia was confirmed in a bacteriological study of the biopsied tissue. The nodules regressed spontaneously with recovery from the neutropenia. We report a case of S. maltophilia infection that manifested as soft tissue nodules, which resolved spontaneously in a patient with leukemia.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Humans ; Immunocompromised Host ; Leukemia ; Neutropenia ; Neutrophils ; Panniculitis ; Soft Tissue Infections ; Stenotrophomonas ; Stenotrophomonas maltophilia