BACKGROUND: Fixed drug eruptions(FDE) are a cutaneous reaction characterized by one or more circumscribed lesions that recur at the same site in response to a given medication. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to find the clinical and histopathological characteristics of FDE and to compare early FDE with late FDE histopathologically. METHOD: We clinically investigated 54 cases of FDE that visited the department of dermatology at the Kyunghee medical center from January 1993 to December 1996. Among them, 31 patients had skin biopsies and were evaluated histopathologically on the basis of duration. RESULTS: The results were summarized as follows: 1. Development of FDE did not show any difference according to sex and was evenly distributed over all the ages. 2. The latent periods of FDE were diverse in appearance from 30 minutes to 10 days, but mostly, the skin lesions erupted within 4S hours. 3. The most common skin lesions were erythematous macules. 4. Distribution of the lesions came out as solitary: 20.4%, multiple: 79.6%. S3.7% of the multiple lesions were localized to a part of body, and 16.3% were distributed over the whole body. 5. The areas in which the eruptions developed were (in descending order): upper extremity(37.0%), hand(31.5%), trunk(24.1%), face(24.1%). 6. In most cases(68.6%), the size and the number of lesions were greater in recurrente, rather than in first attacks. 7. The histopathological findings commonly showed perivascular mononuclear cell(MNC) infiltration (100%), pigmentary incontinence(77.4%), basal hydrophic degeneration(71.0%), eosinophil infiltration in dermis(61.3%), etc. 8. The epidermal histopathological findings such as spongiosis, exocytosis of MNC, basal hydrophic degeneration, keratinocyte necrosis and subepidermal vesicles could be seen more frequently in early lesions than in late ones. CONCLUSION: In our study, we were able to obtain meaningful results based on data from the combination of clinical and histopathological investigations. This study may give help to understand the characteristics of fixed drug eruptions and to plan future studies.
Biopsy ; Dermatology ; Drug Eruptions* ; Eosinophils ; Exocytosis ; Humans ; Keratinocytes ; Necrosis ; Skin

Developmental venous anomalies are congenital anomalies of the intracranial venous drainage and clinically asymptomatic. Cavernous hemangiomas are vascular malformations composed of dilated vascular channels lined with a single layer of endothelial cells without any intervening normal neural tissue. Although, cavernous hemangioma may be clinically silent, but frequently cause variable neurologic manifestations; intracranial hemorrhage, seizures, and focal neurologic deficits. Frequent association of these two diseases has already been reported and it has been suggested that cavernous hemangiomas not the developmental venous anomalies that cause the acute clinical symptoms. A 4 year old girl with sudden onset of headache, vomiting, gait disturbance and signs of unilateral cerebellar dysfunction 2 days before admission showed a 2.5x2.5cm sized hematoma with heterogenous signal intensity both in CT and MRI in the left cerebellar hemisphere. Four-vessel cerebral angiography revealed characteristic findings of developmental venous anomalies. Pathologic findings of the surgically removed hematoma disclosed typical feature of cavernous hemangioma. Based on the findings in this case and review of the literatures, we concluded that the possibility of other diseases such as cavernous hemangiomas must be considered in patients who has intracranial hemorrhage due to the developmental venous anomalies.
Cerebellar Diseases ; Cerebral Angiography ; Child, Preschool ; Drainage ; Endothelial Cells ; Female ; Gait ; Headache ; Hemangioma, Cavernous* ; Hematoma ; Hemorrhage* ; Humans ; Intracranial Hemorrhages ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Neurologic Manifestations ; Seizures ; Vascular Malformations ; Vomiting

STUDY DESIGN: Changes of morphology and phenotype of cultured cells in media added lactate were observed. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effect of lactate on morphology and phenotype of cultured intervertebral disc cell. SUMMARY OF LITERATURE REVIEW: It was reported that lactate and pH were important factor in the degeneration of intervertebral disc. However the effect of lactate on morphology and phenotype of cultured intervertebral disc cell have not been studied. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cells were dissociated enzymatically from rabbit nucleus pulposus. After attaining monolayer growth, the cells were incubated in media added 2mM or 5mM lactate. Total cell counts and morphological changes of the cells were periodically observed. Changes in cell phenotype were investigated by use of anti-collagen antibody stain. RESULTS: The cell groups added no lactate and 2mM lactate showed no difference in cell counts, morphology and phenotype. The cell group added 5mM lactate showed a reduction in final cell Counts and highel'ratio of fibroblastic cell in total population. Anti-collagen I Ab stained the Intra-and extra-cellular area of fibroblastic cells and intracellular area of chondrocytic cells. CONCLUSIONS: The current study suggests that high concentration of lactate inhibit intervertebral disc cell proliferation and accelerate morphological and phenotypical change to fibroblastic cell.
Cell Count ; Cell Proliferation ; Cells, Cultured ; Fibroblasts ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Intervertebral Disc* ; Lactic Acid* ; Phenotype*

A 34 year-old woman was hospitalized with anterior chest pain and indigestion. Chest radiograph and computed tomogram revealed a sewing needle in the cardiac cavity. She had no histories of surgical intervention, drug abuse, or acupuncture. We removed the needle from the right ventricle under cardiopulmonary bypass.
Acupuncture ; Adult ; Cardiopulmonary Bypass ; Chest Pain ; Dyspepsia ; Female ; Foreign Bodies* ; Heart Ventricles* ; Humans ; Needles* ; Radiography, Thoracic ; Substance-Related Disorders

BACKGROUND: Respiratory atopy (RA) is frequently associated with atopic dermatitis (AD) and the age of onset is usually later than that of the dermatitis. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence, the onset, and the duration of RA associated with AD in Korea. We also tried to correlate the existence of RA with the severity and prognosis of AD. METHODS: One hundred and eighty one patients with AD were studied. Information about the age at onset and the duration of RA were obtained from the medical history of patients or from the medical records. The severity of AD was graded. RESULTS: RA was found in 66 cases of AD (36.5%). The average age at onset of asthma was 6 years and the average duration of asthma was 6 years. The average age at onset of allergic rhinitis (AR) was 12.4 years and the average duration of AR was 6.8 years. The prevalence of asthma with AD was the most common in the age group between 8 and 11 years while the prevalence of AR was the most common in the age group between 20 and 23 years. The higher occurrence of RA in the older age group was considered to represent persistence of AD in-to adult life. We could not find any difference in the severity of AD between pure AD patients and AD patients with RA. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of RA in AD in Korea was considered to be similar to that of other reports. The average onset of asthma in Korea was a little later, whereas the average on-set of AR was a little earlier than that in the other reports. The duration of RA, which has hardly been mentioned in the literature, was considered to be about 6 years in Korea. It is likely that RA is a poor prognostic factor for AD, but does not affect severity of dermatitis.
Adult ; Age of Onset ; Asthma ; Dermatitis ; Dermatitis, Atopic* ; Humans ; Korea ; Medical Records ; Prevalence ; Prognosis ; Rhinitis, Allergic

No abstract available.
Female ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy, Ectopic*

No abstract available.
Graves Disease* ; Insulin*

No abstract available.
Tenosynovitis*

No abstract available.
Arthritis, Rheumatoid* ; Humans

We report a case of malignant histiocytosis which began with intermittent fever and scaly skin lesions. A 3-year-old girl presented with erythematous scaly papules on the face and the trunk, and high fever for 3 months. The cutaneous lesions consisted of widespread coin-sized erythematous scaly papules with marginal brownish pigmentation. She was anemic and thrombocytopenic and had impairment of the liver function. Histopathologic study of the skin lesions showed non-specfic findings except for hyperkeratosis. However, bone marrow examination revealed an increased number of histiocytes, mostly immature with active phagocytosis of erythroid cells, myeloid cells, and platelets. She was diagnosed as having malignant histiocytosis and treated with cyclophosphamide and vincristine. She died the next day after the treatment had begun.
Bone Marrow Examination ; Child, Preschool ; Cyclophosphamide ; Erythroid Cells ; Female ; Fever* ; Histiocytes ; Histiocytic Sarcoma* ; Humans ; Liver ; Myeloid Cells ; Phagocytosis ; Pigmentation ; Skin* ; Vincristine