No abstract available.
Humans

Tinea pedis is frequently found in people with poor personal hygiene and in hot, humid environments. The authors investigated the clinical, epidemiological, and mycological characteristics of tinea pedis in 170 garbage workers(166 males and 4 females) employed in a garbage plant in Seoul, Korea. 40 were clerical workers and 130 were field workers. Tinea pedis was found in 134 with a prevalence rate of 78.8%. Of those 134, 61(45.5%) also had onychomycosis. The prevalence of tinea pedis increased with age and the period working in garbage plant. However, there was no difference in the prevalence of tinea pedis between clerical workers and field workers, mitigating against the conclusion that their tinea pedis may be of occupational origin. Clinically tinea pedis was classified into 4 types ; interdigital (41.8%), vesicular(23.1%), dry squamous(22.4%), and mixed(12.7%). KOH smear positivity and culture positivity was related to clinical types of the lesion the lowest in the interdigital type. In the interdigital type, the etiology of nonmycotic lesions could not be identified. Negative fungal cultures could have been due to secondary bacterial infections. 63 strains of dermatophytes were isolated; 54 strains of Trichophyton rubrem(85.7%), 8 strains of Trichophyton mentagrophytes(12.7%) and 1 mixed infection of T. rubrum and T. mentagrophytes. T. mentagrophytes was isolated only from the vesicular lesions. 8 strains of yeast forms, positive in KOH smears and yielding pure colonies, were also isolated, and repeated mycologic examination yielded the same results. Among them, at least 4 cases of Trichosporon beigelii, and 1 case of Candida parapsilosis were considered to be of pathogenic significance.
Arthrodermataceae ; Bacterial Infections ; Candida ; Coinfection ; Garbage* ; Health Personnel ; Humans ; Hygiene ; Korea ; Male ; Onychomycosis ; Plants ; Prevalence ; Seoul ; Tinea Pedis* ; Tinea* ; Trichophyton ; Trichosporon ; Yeasts

Hydroa Vacciniforme is a rare, light sensitive dermatitis characterized by discrete vesicles followed by varioliform scar formation, which was first described by Bazin on 1862. We have expe"ienced three cases of hydroa vacciniforme in childhood. The first case was a 6-year-old boy who had discrete vesicles, crusts and pitting scars on forehead, both cheeks, ears and dorsum of the hands in symmetrical distribution with itching sensation, which had used to recur in every summer since last three years ago. Histologic section of a primary lesion showed necrosis and severe edema in the epidermis and adjacent dermis with the dermal inflammatory cell infiltration. The second case was a 10-year-old girl who had discrete vesicles, crusts, erosive and depigmented patch and scars on face, lip, dorsum of the hand and forearm with itching sensation, which had also developed on last spring. The third case was a 7-year-old boy who had vesiclee, erosive patch, crusts and pitting scars on face, Iower lip, both dorsum of the hand and forearm with itching sensation, which had recurred in every summer since last two years ago, On urine examination, porphyrin, was negative in all three cases. Diagnosis was established by clinical characteristics and laboratory findings and histological pictures. Symptomatic treatment was done in all three cases. The literatures were briefly reviewed.
Cheek ; Child ; Cicatrix ; Dermatitis ; Dermis ; Diagnosis ; Ear ; Edema ; Epidermis ; Female ; Forearm ; Forehead ; Hand ; Humans ; Hydroa Vacciniforme* ; Lip ; Male ; Necrosis ; Pruritus ; Sensation

No abstract available.
Bowen's Disease ; Foot

Alloplastic implants are known to be inert for many years, though complications are infrequently reported many years after their insertion. We report the case of a patient who had undergone a blow-out fracture repair five years before the discovery of a hematic cyst. He had been free of symptoms for the first five years after his orbital floor repair but then developed pain on eyeball movement and persistent vertical diplopia, which finally led to surgical intervention. At surgery, a hematic cyst was found to have formed around the implanted silastic plate. When alloplastic material is used in orbital fracture repair, we should be alert for late complications which may occur many years after surgery.
Adult ; Biocompatible Materials ; *Blood ; Bone Cysts/diagnosis/*etiology ; Humans ; Male ; Orbital Diseases/diagnosis/*etiology ; Orbital Fractures/diagnosis/*surgery ; Postoperative Complications ; Prostheses and Implants/*adverse effects ; Reoperation ; Silicone Elastomers/*adverse effects ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

No abstract available.
Lymphedema*

No abstract available.
Granuloma* ; Microsporum* ; Tinea*

On July 3, 1928, the Wonsan Labor Union established the Wonsan Laborers' Hospital in Seoku-dong, Wonsan for the purpose of reducing medical consultation fees for its members. The union's efforts to improve the welfare of its members include the establishment of an educational institute, a consumers union, a barbershop, and a relief department. The Laborers' Hospital, which began with ten wards, was led by a team of two doctors, one midwife, two pharmacists, and four nurses. The two doctors were Cheol-sun Cha and Jeong-kwon Lee, and the midwife/nurse was Sun-jeong Kim. Union members received a 40% discount on medicine, and this was utilized by a daily average of 60 to 70 workers, or 21,000 workers annually. The Laborers' Hospital was clearly distinct from medical facilities founded as charity institutions in that funds were raised by the recipients themselves, and that the recipients formed a community based on their common status as laborers. However, the Wonsan Laborers' Hospital was shut down in roughly April 1929 due to the breaking of the general strike, and the heightened suppression of union activities prevented any additional opening of laborers' hospitals until Korea's liberation from Japan. Nevertheless, the history of the Wonsan Laborers' Hospital represents a key development in Korea's health coverage. It is not adequate to declare, as was the case in past research, Korea's health coverage to be simply an imitation of the Western system and lacking its own history. Despite some differences in scale and operation, the development of health coverage in the Korean peninsula is in line with the history of health coverage development in the West. The Wonsan Laborers' Hospital, founded and operated by the laborers themselves, thus holds great significance in the history of Korea's health coverage, The findings of this study are expected to stimulate new and more diverse discussions on the history of health coverage in Korea.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group* ; Charities ; Fees and Charges ; Financial Management ; Humans ; Japan ; Korea ; Labor Unions ; Midwifery ; Occupations* ; Pharmacists ; Strikes, Employee

PURPOSE: In this retrospective study, we attempted to evaluate the treatment outcome and the prognostic factors of thymoma treated with surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Between 1979 and 1998, 55 patients with thymoma were treated at the Seoul National University Hospital. Of these, 11 patients underwent surgery only, 33 patients received postoperative radiotherapy and 11 patients received radiotherapy only. Twenty-three patients had gross total resection and 21 patients subtotal resection. For postoperative radiotherapy, the radiation dose consisted of 41.4-55.8 Gy. The average follow-up was 64 months, and ranged from 2 to 160 months. The sex ratio was 1:1 and the median age was 48 years (15-74 years). Overall survival and disease-free survival were determined via the Kaplan-Meier method, and the log-rank was employed to evaluate for differences in prognostic factor. RESULTS: The five- and 10-year survival rates were 87% and 65% respectively, and the median survival was 103 months. By univariate analysis, only stage ( p=0.0017) turned out to be significant prognostic factors of overall survival. Also, stage ( p=0.0007) was significantly predictive for overall survival in mutivariated analysis. CONCLUSION: This study showed the stage was found to be important prognostic factors, which influenced survival. Especially, as incomplete resection is related with poor results, complete resection is important to cure the invasive thymoma.
Disease-Free Survival ; Drug Therapy ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Radiotherapy ; Retrospective Studies ; Seoul ; Sex Ratio ; Survival Rate ; Thymoma* ; Treatment Outcome*

BACKGROUND: The Soonchunhyang University Hospital Bloodless Center was established in 2000, and more than 2,000 bloodless surgeries have been performed there since. In this study, the lowest postoperative Hb/preoperative Hb (Hblow/pre) ratio and mortality rates of patients who underwent bloodless surgery were analyzed for each maximum surgical blood order schedule (MSBOS) category to assess whether MSBOS can be used as a predictor of successful completion of bloodless surgery. METHODS: A total of 971 patients were included. MSBOS was defined as the average number of units of RBCs transfused during each elective surgery. We used the Hblow/pre ratio as an alternative to intraoperative blood loss. Frequency of Hblow/pre ratios < or =0.5, use of transfusion alternatives, and mortality rates were compared across MSBOS categories. RESULTS: Out of the 971 patients, 701 (72.2%) were categorized as type and screen (T&S), 184 (18.9%) as MSBOS 1, 64 (6.6%) as MSBOS 2, and 22 (2.3%) as MSBOS 4. Transfusion alternatives were used by 397 (40.9%) patients. The frequency of the use of simultaneous erythropoietin and iron, hemostatics, acute normovolemic hemodilution, and Cell Saver (Haemonetics corp., USA) was higher in patients in the higher MSBOS categories. Six (0.6%) patients died within 30 days of surgery. Hblow/pre ratios tended to be lower as the level of MSBOS category increased. CONCLUSIONS: Surgeries in the higher MSBOS categories tended to be associated with high blood loss and mortality. Active use of transfusion alternatives is recommended in patients in high MSBOS categories who are scheduled to undergo bloodless surgery.
Blood Loss, Surgical/mortality/prevention & control ; Bloodless Medical and Surgical Procedures/*methods/mortality ; Erythropoietin/therapeutic use ; Hemodilution ; Hemoglobins/analysis ; Hemostatics/therapeutic use ; Hospitals, University ; Humans ; Iron/therapeutic use ; Outcome Assessment (Health Care) ; Tertiary Care Centers