Partial unilateral lentiginosis is a rare pigmentary disorder characterized by the numerous unilateral lentigines on the otherwise normal skin. A 13-year-old woman presented with asymptomatic multiple brownish macules on the left periorbital area. Her mother and maternal grandfather had the same clinical features on the left abdomen. Histologic examination of the pigmented lesion revealed findings consistent with lentigo simplex. We report an interesting case of partial unilateral lentiginosis with familial occurrence.
Abdomen ; Adolescent ; Female ; Humans ; Lentigo* ; Mothers ; Skin

Ossifications of the ligamentum flavum(OLF) and the posterior longitudinal ligament(OPLL) are uncommon clinical entities as a cause of the progressive compression myelopathy or radiculopathy. Although there are considerable literatures concerning OPLL or OLF in cervical and thoracic spine, there are only a few references about OPLL or OLF in the lumbar spine. OLF and OPLL have been reported that they may lead to severe complication only with a minor trauma or even without trauma, such as paraplegia. The authors have experienced 2 cases of OLF accompanied by OPLL In the lumbar spine, who were treated with decompressive laminectomy and excision of ossified ligaments. For its rarity of OLF and OPLL in the lumbar region, we report here with review of literature.
Laminectomy ; Ligaments ; Ligamentum Flavum* ; Longitudinal Ligaments* ; Lumbosacral Region ; Paraplegia ; Radiculopathy ; Spinal Cord Diseases ; Spine*

OBJECTIVES: This study measures serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels in tire-manufacturing workers, and attempts to find occupational or non-occupational factors that related to their PSA levels. METHODS: A total of 1,958 healthy male workers (1,699 were production workers and 259 were office workers) took PSA measurement for analysis. RESULTS: After adjusting for age, body mass index, hypertension, regular exercise, alcohol drinking and smoking, which were significantly related to serum PSA levels or known related factors of serum PSA levels, the geometric mean PSA levels were significantly high in the office workers (p = 0.017), the older age group (p < 0.001), the group with hypertension (p = 0.046) and the group of individuals that do not exercise regularly (p = 0.015) and the office workers were more likely to have a serum PSA level of > or =4.0 (OR 7.73, 95% CI: 2.78-21.46) or 2.5 ng/mL (OR 2.74, 95% CI: 1.49-5.08). After stratifying by age and adjusting aforementioned covariates, office workers 50 years of age and older had the significantly higher geometric mean PSA levels (p = 0.017) and were more likely to have a serum PSA level of > or =4.0 ng/mL (OR 12.90, 95% CI: 3.65-45.64) or 2.5 ng/mL (OR 3.90, 95% CI: 1.64-9.25) than production workers 50 years of age and older. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that serum PSA levels were significantly higher among the group with hypertension or the group of individuals that did not exercise regularly or group of office workers who were considered to have lesser physical activities.
Alcohol Drinking ; Body Mass Index ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Male ; Motor Activity ; Occupations ; Prostate-Specific Antigen* ; Sedentary Lifestyle ; Smoke ; Smoking

Myasthenia Gravis can be considered a lymphocyte dyscrasia. We report four cases of myasLhenia gravis, who were treated with whole body irradiation. Total of 180 rad was delivered in 9 fractions for 3 weeks with every other day treabmenL Three out of four cases showed remarkable symptomatic improvement on follow-up during 3 months.
Follow-Up Studies ; Lymphocytes ; Myasthenia Gravis* ; Pilot Projects* ; Whole-Body Irradiation*

PURPOSE: To evaluate characteristic MR findings of craniocerebral anomaly and its relationship with neurologic manifestations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed MR images of 36 patients with craniocerebral anomaly diagnosed by MRI and clinical courses. We correlated the characteristic MR findings in 41 lesions with neurologic manifestastions focusing on seizures and developmental delay. RESULTS: Twenty-three patients with seizures consisted of 14 patients(60%) with neuronal migration disorders and seven(30%) with phakomatosis, among which 18 patients(78%) had generalized type of seizures. Locations of the lesions were the parietal lobes in 11 patients(52%) and the subependymal or periventricular regions in seven(33%). Two patients with tuberous sclerosis had the lesions in both parietal and subependymal areas. Nine patients had the signs of developmental delay that were seen in the four(44%) with schizencephaly, two (22%) with tuberous sclerosis, two(22%) with heterotopia, and one(ll %) with pachygyria. CONCLUSION: Neuronal migration anomaly was relatively common lesion that presented neurologic manifestations such as seizures and developmental delay. Generalized type of seizures was common. We were able to diagnose these anomalies using the MRI that helped establish therapeutic plans.
Humans ; Lissencephaly ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Malformations of Cortical Development ; Neurocutaneous Syndromes ; Neurologic Manifestations ; Neuronal Migration Disorders ; Neurons ; Parietal Lobe ; Rabeprazole ; Retrospective Studies ; Seizures* ; Tuberous Sclerosis

Epigenetic changes represented by promoter CpG island hypermethylation and histone modification are an important carcinogenetic mechanism, which is found in virtually all histologic types of human cancer. About 60-70% of human genes harbor CpG islands in their promoters and 5' exonal sequences, and some of them undergo aberrant promoter CpG island hypermethylation and subsequent down- regulation of gene expression. The loss of expression in tumor suppressor or tumor-related genes results in acceleration of tumorigenic processes. In addition to regional CpG island hypermethylation, diffuse genomic hypomethylation represents an important aspect of DNA methylation changes occurring in human cancer cells and contributes to chromosomal instability. These apparently contrasting methylation changes occur not only in human cancer cells, but also in premalignant cells. CpG island hypermethylation has gained attention for not only the tumorigenic mechanistic process, but also its potential utilization as a tumor biomarker. DNA methylation markers are actively investigated for their potential uses as tumor biomarkers for diagnosis of tumors in body fluids, prognostication of cancer patients, or prediction of chemotherapeutic drug response. In this review, these aspects will be discussed in detail.
Acceleration ; Biological Markers ; Body Fluids ; Chromosomal Instability ; CpG Islands ; DNA ; DNA Methylation ; Epigenomics ; Exons ; Gene Expression Regulation ; Histones ; Humans ; Methylation

No abstract available.
Colon, Ascending* ; Neurilemmoma*

BACKGROUND: Dermatophytoses are common disorders. Prevalence of dermatophytoses is not static but dynamic under the influence of various forces such as climate, migration of people and development of prophylaxis and therapy. OBJECTIVE: This study was made in order to investigate the clinical and mycological status of dermatophytoses in soldiers of Kangwon province, such as incidence and monthly distribution of the diseases and a variety of the causative organisms. METHODS: We performed the clinical and mycological study on 177 patients with dermatophytoses which was diagnosed by KOH examination and fungal culture at the outpatient department of dermatology of Chuncheon Armed Forces General Hospital from October, 1997 to September, 1998. RESULTS: The incidence of dermatophytoses was 12.7% of a total of 1393 outpatients. Tinea pedis(47.5%) developed most frequently, followed by tinea cruris(29.9%), tinea manus (10.2%), tinea corporis(5.6%), tinea faciale(3.4%), tinea unguium(2.8%), and tinea capitis(0.6%) in decreasing order. The mean age of the patients was 21.9 years(range, 20-24). The incidence of dermatophytoses by rank was highest in private 1st class group(32.8%), followed by corporal group(28.8%), private group(24.3%), sergeant group(13.6%), and new private group(0.6%) in decreasing order. There were coexisting fungal infections in 27 patients(15.3%), and the case of tinea pedis with tinea unguium was the most common. The positive rate of KOH examination was 96.6% and the positive rate of fungal culture on Sabouraud dextrose agar media with cycloheximide was 66.1%. The most common organism cultured was Trichophyton(T.) rubrum(94.0%), followed by T. mentagrophtes(5.1%) and T. verrucosum(0.9%). CONCLUSION:These results are higher incidence of dermatophytoses than those of previous studies. The incidence of tinea pedis was also higher than the previous studies. These are probably due to tight-fitting army boots in summer and spreading of infection among non-infected soldiers living together. The most common causative organism was T. rubrum.
Agar ; Arm ; Climate ; Cycloheximide ; Dermatology ; Gangwon-do* ; Glucose ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Incidence ; Military Personnel* ; Onychomycosis ; Outpatients ; Prevalence ; Tinea Pedis ; Tinea*

Schwartz-Jampel syndrome is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by clinical myotonia, persistent spontaneous activity, and skeletal dysplasia (short stature, pigeon breast, micrognathia etc.). We experienced an eleven- year-old girl complaining of gait disturbance and motor weakness of both legs. She was operated for umblical hernia at the age of two and for congenital hip dislocation at the age of six. She displayed short stature, short neck, microstomia, micrognathia, pigeon breast, and calf muscle hypertrophy. Her muscle strength was fair to good grade in both legs. Percussion- and exercise-induced myotonia was observed. Her cognitive function was below-average intelligence. Serum creatine kinase was elevated three to four times of normal level. Routine motor and sensory conduction studies were normal and continuous electrical myotonic discharges were detected in all examined muscles. Clinically, her symptom was non-progressive for three years.
Breast ; Columbidae ; Creatine Kinase ; Female ; Gait ; Hernia ; Hip Dislocation, Congenital ; Humans ; Hypertrophy ; Intelligence ; Leg ; Microstomia ; Muscle Strength ; Muscles ; Myotonia ; Neck ; Osteochondrodysplasias*

OBJECTIVES: This study was investigated the recovery characteristics of propofol-remifentanil and sevoflurane-remifentanil anesthesia for total thyroidectomy. METHODS: Eighty patients in ASA physical status 1 and 2 scheduled for total thyroidectomy were allocated randomly to either group P (n = 40) or group S (n = 40). Anesthesia was maintained with remifentanil effect site concentration (Ce) 1-3 ng/mL and propofol Ce 2-4 microg/mL in the group P, and was maintained with remifentanil Ce 1-3 ng/mL and sevoflurane 1.5-2% in the group S. Blood pressure, heart rate, and bispectral (BIS) index were measured during perioperative period. The times from discontinuance of anesthetic agent to eye opening, to extubation, and to stating name were measured. Postoperative complications were evaluated. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between group P and S on the blood pressure, heart rate, and recovery time. BIS index of group P showed lower than that of group S during operation (P < 0.05). The incidences of side effects were similar in the two groups, though the incidence of nausea was higher in the group S (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Propofol-remifentanil anesthesia was more advantageous than sevoflurane-remifentanil anesthesia for thyroidectomy in view of side effect incidences.
Anesthesia* ; Blood Pressure ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Incidence ; Nausea ; Perioperative Period ; Postoperative Complications ; Propofol ; Thyroidectomy*