No abstract available.

Wells' syndrome or eosinophilic cellulitis is an uncommon cutaneous disorder characterized by recurrent erythematous and edematous plaques that often resemble acute cellulitis. The characteristic microscopic findings are diffuse dermal eosinophilia with marked edema, and flame figures consisting of amorphous or granular eosinophilic material around collagen bundles of the dermis. Etiology and pathogenesis are unknown, but the disease has been found to be associated with infections, arthropod bites, drug administration, surgery and hematologic disorders. We report the case of a 55-year-old man with pancreatic carcinoma who was presented with an asymptomatic erythematous to brownish subcutaneous nodule on the left buttock of several days' duration. A biopsy specimen taken from the erythematous to brownish nodule showed many flame figures and diffuse infiltration of eosinophils in the dermis and subcutaneous fat tissue. The rapid resolution of the skin lesion with chemotherapy of the pancreatic carcinoma supports a relationship between the two conditions.
Arthropods ; Biopsy ; Buttocks ; Cellulitis ; Collagen ; Dermis ; Drug Therapy ; Edema ; Eosinophilia ; Eosinophils ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Skin ; Subcutaneous Fat

No abstract available.
Blood Platelets* ; Leukocytes* ; Plateletpheresis*

Psoriasis is a relatively common disorder that affects at least 1-2% of the population, however, the pathogenesis is not fully understood yet. Histopathologically, psoriatic lesion is characterized by hyperplasia of keratinocyte, intraepidermal neutrophil accumulation and activated T lymphocyte infiltration in the dermis. Among many cytokines, IL-8 is known to play a role for the activation and migration for neutrophil and T lymphocyte and for the proliferation of keratinocyte. We performed immunohistochemical staining with anti-IL-8 monoclonal antibody for the active lesion, stable lesion and normal-looking skin of ten psoriatic patients and ten healthy controls. Strong expression of IL-8 in the epidermis and dermis was noted from the active as well as stable psoriatic skins. In the normal-looking skin of the psoriatic patients, only faint expression which is not different from healthy control skin, was noted. These observations indicate that the expression of IL-8 is increased in psoriatic lesion, and IL-S is important for the initiation and maintenance of psoriasis.
Cytokines ; Dermis ; Epidermis ; Humans ; Hyperplasia ; Interleukin-8* ; Keratinocytes ; Lymphocytes ; Neutrophils ; Psoriasis ; Skin*

BACKGROUND: The eosinophil chemotactic and activating effects of eotaxin and the known association of eosinophils with asthma suggest that eotaxin expression is increased during an asthma attack. This study was aimed to determine whether the plasma eotaxin levels are higher in patients during as asthma attack and to correlate the eotaxin levels with the disease activity, severity and response to therapy. METHOD: A case-control study of the plasma eotaxin levels was performed in 100 patients with exacerbated asthma and 48 age-and sex-matched subjects with stable asthma. RESULTS: The plasma eotaxin levels were significantly higher in the 100 patients with exacerbated asthma (233±175 pg/ml) than in the 48 subjects with stable asthma(169±74 pg/ml). A tread toward higher eotaxin levels was observed in asthmatic subjects who were taking oral steroids (332±225 pg/ml) than in those who were not (214±159 pg/ml) and higher levels were found in those admitted to the hospital (275±212 pg/ml) than in those discharged after receiving only emergency treatment (190±115 pg/ml). The eotaxin levels inversely correlated with the FEV1 (r=-0.25, p<0.01). The eotaxin levels were higher in moderate persistent (323±256 pg/ml) and severe persistent asthmatics (276±170 pg/ml) than in mild intermittent asthmatics (160±60 pg/ml). CONCLUSION: Eotaxin expression is directly associated with asthma exacerbation, impaired pulmonary function and the disease severity.
Asthma* ; Case-Control Studies ; Emergency Treatment ; Eosinophils ; Humans ; Plasma* ; Steroids

Elastofibroma is a rare disease which presents as a slowly-growing, solid, ill-defined fibroelastic mass occuring almost exclusively in elderly women and arising mainly from the connective tissue between the lower part of the scapula and chest wall. Of the 270 cases of elastofibroma which have been reported, 170 cases had developed in Japanese patients. Despite the fact that there have been only two case reports in Korea, there might be a higher prevalence of elastofibroma in Korea than expected because of geographical similarity. We experienced a case of elastofibroma occurring in a 56-year-old man. To our knowledge, this is the first case report of elastofibroma in Korean dermatologic of literature.
Aged ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Connective Tissue ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Middle Aged ; Prevalence ; Rare Diseases ; Scapula ; Thoracic Wall

No abstract available.
Nipples*

No Abstract Available.
Humans ; Renal Dialysis*

Aplasia cutis congenita is a rare disorder characterized by localized or generalized absence of skin at birth. Group 4 in Friden's classification, which is associated with embryologic malformations including myelomeningocele, encephalomeningocele, omphalocele, gastroschisis. The authors have experienced a case of aplasia cutis congenita of right frontal scalp associated with bony defect, forming encephalocele in a newborn. We reported this case with brief review of literatures.
Classification ; Ectodermal Dysplasia* ; Encephalocele ; Gastroschisis ; Hernia, Umbilical ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Meningomyelocele ; Parturition ; Scalp ; Skin

Pneumocystis carinii is the most common cause of diffuse pulmonary infiltrates in the immunocompromised patients. Microscopically, Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia(PCP) shows characteristic frothy intraalveolar exudate and interstitial lymphocytic and plasma cell infiltrate. However, sometimes the only histologic finding of PCP on routine hematoxylin-eosin stain is that of diffuse alveolar damage(DAD), when we can miss the diagnosis without aid of special stains. We report a case of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia presenting as DAD in a 50-year old man after chemotherapy due to malignant lymphoma. Open lung biopsy specimen reveals the early stage of DAD without any characteristic findings, such as foamy exudate. However many cysts of Pneumocystis carinii were found on Gomori's methenamine silver(GMS) stain. Therefore, GMS stain should be routinely performed on all biopsy specimens obtained from immunocompromised patients.
Male ; Humans ; Cysts ; Biopsy