Glomus tumor shows histologically characteristic three components of glomus cells, vascular structures, and spindle-shaped smooth muscle cells. It is classified into solid glomus tumor, glomangioma and glomangiomyoma according to relative proportions of components. Glomangiomyoma, the least frequent type of glomus tumor, has its overall histopathologic pattern identical to common solid glomus tumor or glomangioma. In contrast to the foregoing types, however, it has an important number of spindle-shaped smooth muscle cells, which blend with the glomus cells. A 49-year-old woman presented with 2-year history of painful bluish red nodule beneath nail plate of right 4th finger. We made a diagnosis of glomangiomyoma by virtue of routine histopathologic examinations and immunohistochemical stains such as vimentin, smooth muscle actin and desmin.
Actins ; Coloring Agents ; Desmin ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Fingers ; Glomus Tumor ; Humans ; Intervertebral Disc ; Middle Aged ; Muscle, Smooth ; Myocytes, Smooth Muscle ; Spine ; Vimentin ; Virtues

We herein report a case of transient acrodermatitis enteropathica in a 3-month-old, breast-fed, full-term infant. The patient was presented with a 2-month history of diarrhea and crusted erythema- tous patches on the periorificial area. Similar lesions were seen in his siblings. His serum zinc level and the zinc level in his mother's breast milk were markedly reduced. Diarrhea and skin lesions disappeared promptly with oral zinc supplementation and did not recur when zinc was discontinued after three weeks. Our case indicates that even full-term infants, who feed excl-usively on mothers milk, run a risk of developing zinc deficiency, if the concentration of zinc in the breast milk is very low.
Acrodermatitis* ; Diarrhea ; Humans ; Infant* ; Milk ; Milk, Human ; Mothers ; Siblings ; Skin ; Zinc

Lentigo maligna melanoma(LMM) is the least common type of melanoma and most commonly affects the sun-exposed skin of the elderly. We herein report a case of LMM evolved from lentigo maligna(LM). A 71-year-old female presented with a longstanding irregular brown patch containing two black papules on the left cheek which developed 8 months ago. Histopathologic findings were consistent with LM and LMM. We performed a wide excision and dufourmental flap for reconstruction with no recurrence for 30 months. Sun exposure has been known as the most important etiologic factor for the development of malignant melanoma including LMM and the incidence has an increasing tendency. Thus, skin biopsy is recommended in the evaluation of a longstanding irregular brown patch on the face to prevent LMM.
Aged ; Biopsy ; Cheek ; Female ; Humans ; Hutchinson's Melanotic Freckle* ; Incidence ; Lentigo* ; Melanoma* ; Recurrence ; Skin ; Solar System

Purpura is discoloration of the skin and mucous membranes due to extravasation of red blood cells and may be due to a variety of factors, but it is sometimes difficult to identify the exact cause. Some forms of purpura can frighten the patient and puzzle the physician. Mask phenomenon is an unusual purpura of the relatively loose tissues of the face and neck occuring after prolonged coughing, vigorous vomiting, valsalva's maneuver, parturition, or any other exertion that raises intrathoracic or abdominal pressure. This occurs with acute onset and fades within twenty-four to seventy-two hours spontaneously. A work-up for a coagulation or platelet defect is usually not required. We herein describe five cases of mask phenomenon(unusual facial purpura).
Blood Platelets ; Cough ; Erythrocytes ; Humans ; Masks* ; Mucous Membrane ; Neck ; Parturition ; Purpura* ; Skin ; Valsalva Maneuver ; Vomiting

Purpura is discoloration of the skin and mucous membranes due to extravasation of red blood cells and may be due to a variety of factors, but it is sometimes difficult to identify the exact cause. Some forms of purpura can frighten the patient and puzzle the physician. Mask phenomenon is an unusual purpura of the relatively loose tissues of the face and neck occuring after prolonged coughing, vigorous vomiting, valsalva's maneuver, parturition, or any other exertion that raises intrathoracic or abdominal pressure. This occurs with acute onset and fades within twenty-four to seventy-two hours spontaneously. A work-up for a coagulation or platelet defect is usually not required. We herein describe five cases of mask phenomenon(unusual facial purpura).
Blood Platelets ; Cough ; Erythrocytes ; Humans ; Masks* ; Mucous Membrane ; Neck ; Parturition ; Purpura* ; Skin ; Valsalva Maneuver ; Vomiting

The most common cause of chronic cutaneous sinus tract in the face and neck is chronically draining dental infection. The diagnosis is easily confirmed by dental examination and dental roentgenogram of the involved area, but this disease is frequently misdiagnosed and incorrectly treated in dermatologic department. We report four cases of cutaneous sinus tract of dental origin. First patient had a painful nodule with chronically draining pus and a dimple on the left cheek. Second patient had a dimple with draining bloody fluid on the right chin. Third patient had a pea-sized papule with draining serous fluid on the left chin. Fourth patient had a fluctuant erythematous plaque with draining pus and a dimple on the left buccal area. In all four patients radiologic examination of the maxillary and mandibular regions demonstrated radioluency at the apex of tooth consistent with periapical abscess.
Cheek ; Chin ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Neck ; Periapical Abscess ; Suppuration ; Tooth

Branch retinal vein occlusion(BRVO), along with central retinal vein occlusion, is second only to diabetic retinopathy as a cause of retinal vascular disease. It has been suggested that eyes with shorter axial length have smaller lamina cribrosa and a narrower scleral canal through which the central retinal vein and artery could pass, causing physical blockage in the vein which predisposes to thrombus formation. The subsequent narrowing of the venous lumen will lead to trubulence. reduced flow, venous stasis and thrombus formation at the level of the arteriovenous crossing. This study was conducted to determine whether there was any difference between the axial lengths of eyes with BRVO and those of control eyes. The axial lengths of the eyes in the group of 37 patients with a unilateral BRVO was compared with those of eyes in the control group. The BRVO group consisted of 23 male and 14 female patients and their mean ages were 61.5+/-7.0 years(51~75years) in male and 63.7+/-7.0 years(52~76years) in female. The control group consisted of 46 male and 28 female patients and their mean ages were 62.5+/-6.5 years(50~73years) in male and 63.9+/-6.1 years(52~75years) in female. The mean axial length of eyes of the BRVO group was 23.08+/-0.57mm(21.92~24.19mm) in male and 22.71+/-0.65mm(21.08~24.00mm) in female. The mean axial length of control eyes was 23.74+/-0.73mm(22.46~25.24mm) in male and 23.18+/-0.81mm(21.62~24.76mm) in female. The difference between the mean axial length of eyes of the BRVO group and that of control eyes was statistically significant(p<0.05). In conclusion, the short axial length may play as a risk factor in the occurrence of a BRVO.
Arteries ; Diabetic Retinopathy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Retinal Vein Occlusion* ; Retinal Vein* ; Retinaldehyde* ; Risk Factors* ; Thrombosis ; Vascular Diseases ; Veins

"It was reported that polymorphism of TNF alpha gene was present in promoter region and involves the substitution of guanine by adenosine in the uncommon (TNFA 2) allele. In this study, we investigated the significance of TNFA gene polymorphism in relation to various clinical characteristics and autoantibody profiles in SLE as well as comparing it with that of other countries, and also studied its association with peripheral TNF-a production in vitro. TNFA genotyping was performed in 126 SLE patients and 300 controls using DNA extracted from peripheral leucocytes. The biallelic polymorphism at position -308 of the TNFA promotor was determined by Ncol- RFLP. Peripheral mononuclear cell production of TNF-a was investigated by bioassay using L-929 cell cytotoxicity. The TNFA ""1 homozygote was a predominant allele (77.0%) in SLE, which was not different from the controls. TNFA ""2 homozygate was extremely rare in both patients and controls (0.8%, 1.3% respectively). The clinical manifestations between TNFA '1 and TNFA""2 did not differ. The production of autoantibodies including dsDNA, anti-La, anti-nRNP and anti-Sm was not different between two alleles, whereas anti- Ro antibody was more frequent in TNFA""1/TNFA '1 than in TNFA'1/TNFA'2 (62.1% vs 38.4%, P=0.022). The polymorphism of TNFA gene did not influence the lipopolysaccharide stimulated peripheral mononuclear cell production of TNF-a (1356+/-293 vs 1119+/-385 pg/ml; TNFA'1/TNFA'1, TNFA'1/TNFA'2 respectively). These results suggested that promoter polymorphism of TNFA was not directly involved in the susceptibility of SLE and was not responsible for differential peripheral TNF-a production, but TNFA ' may be associated with anti-Ro antibody production."
Adenosine ; Alleles ; Autoantibodies ; Biological Assay ; DNA ; Guanine ; Homozygote ; Humans ; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic* ; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha*

Occasionally, erythema multiforme has been reported to occur in association with allergic contact dermatitis to various substances including paraquat(Gramoxone(R)). In these cases the erythema multiforme has ranged from mild localized exanthem to life-threatening toxic epidermal necrolysis. We report a case of toxic epidermal necrolysis developed from erythema multiform due to contact of paraquat.
Dermatitis, Allergic Contact ; Erythema ; Erythema Multiforme ; Exanthema ; Paraquat ; Stevens-Johnson Syndrome*

BACKGROUND: Despite the fact that adolescent smokers are increasing in Korea, an effective smoking cessation program is not widely available. The purpose of the present study was to develop and evaluate a short term smoking cessation program. METHODS: The subjects involved in the smoking cessation program were 89 students from 9 different middle and high schools located in Seoul. They were referred to our program by their school teacher as a penalty for smoking in school. The duration of the program was a total of 270 minutes and the program was carried out in 3 sessions during a period of one week. The program included cigarette related experiments and life skills enhancement training, such as self-assertiveness, cigarette refusal skills and self esteem enhancement. The students considered to be smoke free at the end of the program were those who declared themselves to be smoke free and achieved an expiratory CO level of less than 8 ppm. The stage of smoking cessation was also assessed at the beginning to later evaluate if any progress in stage had occurred. Certification was given to those who succeeded in meeting the smoke free criteria. The students who were not able to meet the smoke free criteria were given the certification only under the condition that they achieve a level of expiratory CO measurement close th that of a nonsmoker's. RESULTS: Eighty seven students out of the 89 received the certification and 90.7% had attempted smoking cessation during the program. 39.1% Among, met the smoke free criteria used in this study. There was a significant difference between those who declared to be smoke free (54.1%) on the questionnaire and those who actually met the smoke free criteria. There was an average of a 0.75 stage advancement in terms of the stage of smoking cessation (P<0.005). CONCLUSIONS: The program yielded high smoking cessation attempt and cessation rate in spite of the short duration of the program.
Adolescent* ; Certification ; Disulfiram ; Humans ; Korea ; Self Concept ; Seoul ; Smoke* ; Smoking Cessation* ; Smoking* ; Tobacco Products ; Tobacco Use Cessation