Trichilemmal carcinoma is a rare malignant neoplasm of the hair follicle, which is derived from or differentiates towards cells of the outer root sheath. We report a case of trichilemmal carcinoma in an 83-year-old female patient. She presented with a tender dome-shaped crusted papule showing a feature of cutaneous horn on the forehead, which was first detected 6 months before. nstopathologically, lobular patterned tumor cells with peripheral palisade of basaloid cells, nuclear atypia, and clear or pale, PAS-positive, diastase-sensitive cytoplasm were observed beneath the marked hyperkeratosis. After the diagnosis, total excision was done. The patient has been free of recurrence or metastasis till now.
Aged, 80 and over ; Animals ; Cytoplasm ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Forehead ; Hair Follicle ; Horns* ; Humans ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Recurrence

Factitious fever has been a rare cause of fever of unknown origin. We herein report a case of a young soldier, who presented with persistent fever of unusual pattern and bullae on both palms. After numerous investigations had excluded organic diseases, factitious fever was diagnosed with measurement of the freshly voided urine temperatures and body temperatures while directly observed. Biopsy of skin lesions revealed friction blister. Early recognition of this cause of fever is needed to avoid the unnecessary investigation and prolonged hospitalization.
Biopsy ; Blister ; Body Temperature ; Factitious Disorders ; Fever of Unknown Origin ; Fever* ; Friction ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Military Personnel ; Skin

Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is one of the most common congenital heart diseases. A rare complication occurring after its surgical treatment is the development of an aneurysm, and we report the radiologic findings in a case in which this occurred after surgical ligation.
Aneurysm* ; Ductus Arteriosus, Patent* ; Heart Diseases ; Ligation*

Antiphospholipid antibody syndrome (APS) is a coagulation disorder associated with antiphospholipid antibodies. Headache is common in APS patients and often unresponsive to analgesics. We report a case of refractory headache in a patient with APS, who was improved by high-intensity warfarin treatment. The mechanisms of the headache in patients with APS were presumed to be hypercoagulability of microcirculation and thrombotic occlusion of the capillaries, which were associated with antiphospholipid antibodies. Therefore, high-intensity warfarin could be considered as one of the treatments for refractory headache in patients with APS.
Analgesics ; Antibodies, Antiphospholipid ; Antiphospholipid Syndrome* ; Capillaries ; Headache* ; Humans ; Microcirculation ; Thrombophilia ; Warfarin*

Isolated fetal ascites may be different from general category of nonimmune hydrops in both prenatal course and prognosis. We experienced one case of isolated fetal ascites of unknown origin treated by in utero ultrasound-directed paracentesis and so present it with brief review of literature.
Ascites* ; Edema ; Paracentesis* ; Prognosis

OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to determine the intracellular action of the antidepressant, venlafaxine, in C6 glioma cells using heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) immunocytochemistry and HSP70 Western blots; HSP70 is known to be associated with stress and depression. METHODS: The extent of HSP70 expression was measured after rat C6 glioma cells were treated with 1) dexamethasone only, 2) venlafaxine only, 3) simultaneous venlafaxine and dexamethasone, or 4) dexamethasone after venlafaxine pretreatment. Dexamethasone (10 microM, 6 hours) did not affect the level of HSP70 expression relative to control. RESULTS: Short-term (1 hour) venlafaxine treatment significantly increased the level of HSP 70 expression. Simultaneous long-term (72 hours) venlafaxine and dexamethasone treatment significantly reduced the level of HSP70 expression. Dexamethasone treatment administered following long-term (24 and 72 hours) pretreatment with venlafaxine also significantly reduced the level of HSP70 expression. CONCLUSION: Short-term treatment with venlafaxine increases the expression of HSP70, but prolonged treatment with dexamethasone suppresses the venlafaxine-induced expression of HSP70. These findings suggest that HSP70 and dexamethasone play a significant role in the pathophysiology of depression.
Animals ; Cyclohexanols ; Depression ; Dexamethasone ; Glioma ; Heat-Shock Proteins ; HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins ; Immunohistochemistry ; Rats ; Venlafaxine Hydrochloride

Alcohol influences the neuroadaptation of brain cells where receptors and enzymes like protein kinase C (PKC) exist. Naltrexone acts on opioid receptors. However, other mechanisms of action remain unknown. We prepared SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells, and fed them with 150 mM ethanol for 72 h followed by treatment with naltrexone for 24 h. We performed microarray analysis and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. Our results showed that PKC epsilon increased 1.90 times and showed an overall decreasing pattern as time increased. Phosphorylated ERK also increased 2.0 times according to the change of PKC epsilon. Integrin alpha7 increased 2.32 times and showed an increasing pattern as time increased. In conclusion, naltrexone influences PKC epsilon neuronal signaling system and endothelial adhesion molecule integrin alpha7 in addition to the well-known opioid system.
Antigens, CD/*metabolism ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Comparative Study ; DNA, Complementary/genetics ; Humans ; Integrin alpha Chains/*metabolism ; Naltrexone/*pharmacology ; *Neuroblastoma/enzymology/metabolism/pathology ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; Protein Kinase C-epsilon/*metabolism ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Time Factors

Gossypiboma is a mass within body consisting of a cotton matrix surrounded by a foreign-body reaction. Some patients may remain asymptomatic, while others develop early persistent infected conditions. Gossypiboma should be included in a differential diagnosis of a paravertebral mass in postoperative patients, and a thorough and a careful inspection of the surgical field before closure must be performed by surgeons to avoid the complications of gossypiboma even when there are correct counts. We present a patient in whom a gossypiboma at the 4th lumbar spine was encountered 40 years after a partial laminectomy with no subjective symptoms.
Diagnosis, Differential ; Foreign-Body Reaction ; Humans ; Laminectomy ; Spine

INTRODUCTION: The authors present a retrospective analysis of the clinical features and prognostic factors of long-term survival in gliomatosis cerebri. METHODS: The authors reviewed the clinical features of 27 cases of gliomatosis cerebri treated between August 1988 and January 2001. Age at diagnosis ranged from 19 to 62(median 41) years and the male to female ratio was 18:9. Most cases presented as a headache or seizure and the mean duration of symptoms was 9.6 months. An ill defined, diffuse high signal intensity lesion extending two lobes or more, without a central necrotic center in T2-weighted magnetic resonance(MR) imaging was characteristic. All patients underwent histological confirmation by craniotomy(12 cases), stereotactic biopsy(14 cases) and stereotactic biopsy followed by craniotomy(1 case). External beam radiation therapy was administered in every case except two, one of which expired within a month of surgery and the other refused treatment. RESULTS: Mean survival time after diagnosis was 41.1 months. By univariate analysis, the symptom duration(lower than 12 months) and the Karnofsky performance scale at discharge(lower than 70), focal enhancement on preoperative MR imaging, postoperative increased intracranial pressure sign, pathologic grade(high grade) and p53(>5%) were correlated with the length of survival(p-values were 0.07, 0.00, 0.007, 0.001, 0.04, and 0.02 respectively). CONCLUSION: We suggest that:1) gliomatosis cerebri can be diagnosed by a combination of MR imaging and histopathological examination:2) confusion with extensive glioma is possible due to vague diagnostic criteria, and so survival might be better than expected had discrete diagnosis been made. 3) Initial active management for increased ICP and further radiation therapy might be an important therapy.
Biopsy ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Glioma ; Headache ; Humans ; Intracranial Pressure ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Neoplasms, Neuroepithelial ; Retrospective Studies ; Seizures ; Survival Rate

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to identify a relationship between bone mineral density (BMD) of lumbar spine, and the weight and body mass index (BMI) in women. METHODS: The subjects were 1,143 females who visited the public health center. BMD (T-score), height and weight were measured and age, menopause, diabetes and hypertension, exercising status and smoking status were inquired by interview. RESULTS: Among the subjects, 362 (31.7%) were in the normal group and 781 (68.3%) were in the abnormal group. As the result of the logistic regression analysis with BMI (Model I), the odds ratio of getting into the abnormal BMD group as age increases by 1 year marked 1.044 (95% CI = 1.009-1.080). The odds ratio of getting into the abnormal BMD group due to menopause was 2.663 (1.516-4.679) and the odds ratio according to lack of walking exercise was 2.597 (1.878-3.591). The odds ratio with 1 kg/m2 of BMI increase was 0.909 (0.862-0.959). In the logistic regression analysis with weight (Model II), the odds ratio of getting into the abnormal BMD group as age increases by 1 year marked 1.044 (1.009-1.080). The odds ratio of getting into the abnormal bone density group due to menopause was 2.575 (1.472-4.507) and the odds ratio according to lack of walking exercise was 2.598 (1.881-3.587). The odds ratio with 1 kg of weight increase was 0.963 (0.942-0.984). The Akaike's information criterion (AIC) values of Model I and Model II were 1196.18 and 1197.14 respectively, indicating Model I has the better compatibility of regression analysis model. CONCLUSION: Weight, BMI and BMD had a positive correlation. However, the coefficient of correlation between weight and BMD was higher than the coefficient between BMI and BMD, which means low weight is much more likely to be related to osteoporosis with no other factor considered. On the other hand, under the condition considering age, height, menopause and walking exercise smoking status, low BMI is much more compatible as a risk factor for osteoporosis.
Body Mass Index ; Body Weight ; Bone Density ; Female ; Hand ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Logistic Models ; Menopause ; Odds Ratio ; Osteoporosis ; Public Health ; Risk Factors ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Spine ; Walking