No abstract available.
Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic* ; Fibromyalgia

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

Dyke-Davidoff-Masson syndrome is a rare disorder which developed hemiatrophy of brain, enlargement of ventricles and prominent pneumatization of petrous pyramid of the temporal bone. It manifests hemiparesis, varying type seizure, and mental retardation. We experienced two cases of Dyke-avidoff-Masson Syndrome, in a 6/12 year-old boy and a 1, 10/12 year-old girl who were admitted to our department of pediatrics, because of convulsion and hemiparesis The brain CT scan showed marked dilatation of lateral ventricle, prominent sylvian fissure and cortical sulci. So we report two cases of Dyke-Davidoff-Masson syndrome with review of literature.
Brain ; Dilatation ; Female ; Humans ; Intellectual Disability ; Lateral Ventricles ; Male ; Paresis ; Pediatrics ; Petrous Bone ; Seizures ; Temporal Bone ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

BACKGROUND: One of the main disadvantages of caudal block is the long latent period before a satisfactory blockade is obtained. Many investigators have used various preparations of local anesthetic solutions to improve the speed of onset. This study was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of prewarming of lidocaine HCl for caudal block. METHODS: Fifty healthy young patients (ASA I) were allocated into two groups, A and B. In group A, the local anesthetic solution were injected at room temperature (25 degrees C), while in group B, they were injected at 37oC. All the caudal block were performed using 2% lidocaine HCl 20 ml with fentanyl 100ug and epinephrine 1:200,000. The onset time was defined as the period from completion of injection until the patient first noticed loss of sensation to pin-prick on perianal region. Assessment of sensory loss was made at 15 seconds interval. We have compared the onset of sensory blockade between groups. The duration of analgesia and any significant side effects were also recorded. RESULTS: The onset of sensory blockade was significantly faster in group B (3.5 +/- 0.5 minutes) than group A (6.2 +/- 0.9 minutes). The duration of analgesia were not significantly changed between groups. Side effects of urinary retention, pruritus and nausea were noted between both groups but the difference was not significant. CONCLUSIONS: We have found that the onset time was 44% faster with warm lidocaine-fentanyl mixture (37 degrees C) than with the room temperature (25 degrees C). The improved clinical usefulness was achieved with no increase in side effects. The technique is a safe and effective method to reduce the latency of onset.
Analgesia ; Epinephrine ; Fentanyl ; Humans ; Lidocaine ; Nausea ; Pruritus ; Research Personnel ; Sensation ; Urinary Retention

BACKGROUND: Oculocutaneous albinism (OCA) is a genetic disorder of the melanin pigment system in which melanin synthesis is reduced or absent in the skin, hair, and eyes. OCA is classified into two major types, and tyrosinase-related OCA can be produced by mutations of the structural gene for tyrosinase enzyme (TYR gene). OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to analyze the segregation of mutant alleles of the TYR gene in tyrosinase-negative and tyrosinase-positive Korean OCA patients and families. METHODS: We amplified exon I, II, and III of the TYR gene of Korean OCA patients and their families by polymerase chain reactions (PCR), and analyzed the mutations by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis in exon I and single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analyses in exon II and exon III. RESULTS: Two tyrosinase-negative cases showed mutations in exon I. Four tyrosinase-nega-tive cases and one tyrosinase-positive case showed mutations in exon II, and one tyrosinase-neg- ative case showed mutations in exon III. In summary, we found three kinds of mutation in four tyrosinase-negative OCA patients and one tyrsinase-positive OCA patient. CONCLUSIONS: RFLP and SSCP analysis can provide a basis for a rapid and sensitive screening system to detect TYR gene mutations of Korean OCA patients and their families.
Albinism, Oculocutaneous* ; Alleles ; Exons ; Hair ; Humans ; Korea* ; Mass Screening ; Melanins ; Monophenol Monooxygenase ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length ; Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational ; Skin

No abstract available.
Arthritis, Rheumatoid* ; Humans

Autogenous costal cartilage graft has been commonly used for reconstruction of auricular deformity. However, the risk of complication and discomfort at the donor site, as well as distortion of the graft due to morphological change in the cartilage have been serious drawbacks to this procedure. Previous studies examining the chondrogenic potential of perichondrium have suggested that perichondrium may be used as graft for cartilage reconstruction. When a perichondrial flap or a free perichondrium was used as graft, new cartilage formed appositional to the grafted perichondrium. However, the neocartilage was often irregular in shape and varied considerably in quantity. In this study, the feasibility of controlling the shape and the mass of neocartilage was investigated using coral, a porous biomaterial, as a template. A coral a template was wrapped with perichondrial flap from the ears of New Zealand white rabbits and placed into a subcutaneous pocket in the rabbits and placed into a subcutaneous pocket in the rabbit's back by incision. A total of 12 animals were used. Formation of new cartilage was later evaluated by gross and histological examination of the perichondrial flap and the coral template. New cartilage was formed in 11 animals. Immature chondrocytes were visible by 3 weeks after the surgery, and by 8 weeks the immature chondrocytes had formed a cartilage. New cartilage was formed only on the surface of the coral template. These results indicated that the shape and the mass of new cartilage may be controlled by using coral template. Therefore, the desired shape of cartilage may be achieved using a coral template of corresponding shape, and this may help in correcting subtle auricular contour defect and in correcting other structural defects that also require new cartilage formation.
Animals ; Anthozoa* ; Cartilage ; Chondrocytes ; Congenital Abnormalities ; Ear ; Humans ; Rabbits ; Tissue Donors ; Transplants

No abstract available.
Tenosynovitis*

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

Immunohistochemical staining on paraffin sections for S-100 protein improved diagnostic accuracy for melanocytic tumor. But specificity of S-100 protein in the diagnosis of melanocytic tumor is very low, because S-100 protein was also expressed in neurogenic tumor and salivary gland tumor. To investigate a specific tumor marker for the malignant melanoma, immunohistochemical staining for HMB-45 and S-100 protein was performed on the paraffin sections of 25 cases of malignant melanoma and 46 cases of nevi. Positive reaction for HMB-45 and S-100 protein was diffusely identified in the cytoplasm of tumor cells. Positive ratio for HMB-45 was 100% in malignant melanoma, 92% in junctional component of compound nevus and 0% in intradermal nevus. Positive ratio for S-100 protein was 92% in malignant melanoma, 100% in compound nevus and 100% in intradermal nevus. The sensitivity and specificity for HMB-45 in malignant melanoma were 100%, but those for S-100 protein were 92% in sensitivity and 86.7% in specificity. These results indicate that HMB-45 has a high sensitivity and specificity for malignant melanoma cells and it can be quite useful for the histopathological diagnosis of malignant melanoma.
Sensitivity and Specificity ; Tumor Markers, Biological