Reactive airways dysfunction syndrome (RADS) is a syndrome as a persistent bronchial hyperreactivity with asthmatic dyspnea which occurs after one or more inhalation exposures to a high concentration of irritant gasses, smokes or vapors in subjects who had preciously had no respiratory disease. We report a case of a 34 years old female worker suffering from reactive airways dysfunction syndrome who had been taking charge of guest room cleaning at a condominium. 7 months before, she inhaled high concentration of chlorine gas in confined and poor ventilated working space of bathroom at the condominium. As she was washing a bathroom with a bleaching agent (6 % sodium hypochlorite) without dilution, dyspnea, dizziness, headache, nausea, and coughing developed after work. She still suffer from dyspnea and coughing. All functional tests were normal except for methacholine challenge test which reveals bronchial hyperreactivity. She has some symptoms of dyspnea and coughing when exposed to perfume, cold air, and heavy work.
Adult ; Bronchial Hyperreactivity ; Chlorine* ; Cough ; Dizziness ; Dyspnea ; Female ; Headache ; Humans ; Inhalation Exposure ; Methacholine Chloride ; Nausea ; Perfume ; Smoke ; Sodium

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

We report herein two cases of cutaneous mucinosis in a 59 and a 55 year-old woman which occurred by asymptomatic cystic nodule on the previous biopsy scar site respectively. The histopathologic findings revealed focal accumulation of mucin and proliferation of fibroblasts in the dermis. We suppose that trauma may cause these cases.
Biopsy ; Cicatrix* ; Dermis ; Female ; Fibroblasts ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Mucinoses* ; Mucins

Objectives: To determine whether the clinical aspect of aplastic anemia is influenced by pregnancy. METHODS: We reviewed 37 cases of pregnant aplastic anemia patients during Jan. 1989 to Dec. 1998, and examined age, parity, progress of pregnancy, termination methods, obstetrics & neonatal complications, hematologic change, and treatment modality by medical records. RESULTS: According to onset of disease, patients were divided into pre-pregnant diagnosed group(n=12) and during-pregnancy diagnosed group(n=25). Mean age of diagnosis was 29.4yr, 89.2% were nulliparous, and 51.4% were severe aplastic anemic patients. All patients underwent 50 pregnancy. Mean gestational period was 37wks, birth weight was 2569gram, and, except in 7 cases of abortion, 43 cases were delivered transvaginally or transabdominally(51.2% vs. 48.8%). Preeclampsia, eclampsia, preterm labor, restricted growth, and distress were complicated and decreased hemoglobin, hematocrit, reticulocyte, platelet were reversed after termination in pregnancy associated group. Treatment modality during pregnancy included transfusion, steroid, anti-lymphocytic globulin, anti-thymocytic globulin and IVGV, and remission rate was 45.5% in pregnancy associated group. CONCLUSION: We concluded that pregnancy is associated with aplastic anemia as a high risk factor, and intensive treatment is needed.
Anemia, Aplastic* ; Birth Weight ; Blood Platelets ; Diagnosis ; Eclampsia ; Female ; Hematocrit ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Obstetric Labor, Premature ; Obstetrics ; Parity ; Pre-Eclampsia ; Pregnancy* ; Reticulocytes ; Risk Factors

The purpose of this study was to compare the marginal fit of all ceramic crowns prepared from alumina slip casting, which is consistent with the conventional In-ceram system, and those fabricated from alumina tapes which is currently under development in an effort to alleviate complexities involved in the forming procedure of the In-ceram crown core. All ceramic crowns, made of In-ceram(slip casting) and alumina tapes(Doctor blade casting), were prepared with 90degreeand 135degreeshoulder margins. The crowns were cemented with a glass ionomer cement and embeded in epoxy resin. The embedded crowns were sectioned faciolingually and mesiodistally and marginal discrepancies and marginal gaps were measured under the Measurescope MM II. The measurements were analyzed using Wilcoxon rank sum test and Kruskal-Wallis test and the results were as follows: 1. In the case of 90degreeshoulder margin, the combined marginal discrepancies and marginal gaps were 78.3 micrometerm and 44.4 micrometer respectively, for the all ceramic crowns fabricated using the alumina tapes. In comparison, the values were 65 micrometer and 25.5 micrometer for the In-ceram crowns. For the marginal gaps a statistical difference existed (p<0.05) but no significant difference was observed for the marginal discrepancy (p>0.05). 2. In the case of 135degreeshoulder margin, the combined marginal discrepancy and marginal gaps were 82.1 micrometer and 40.2 micrometer respectively, for the all ceramic crowns formed with the tapes. As compared with the marginal discrepancy and gaps of the 90degreeshoulder margin in the fabricated from the alumina tapes, no significant statistical differencies were discerned in both cases (p>0.05). 3. There was no statistically significant difference in the fits among four locations around the margins of the all ceramic crowns fabricated using the alumina tapes. The results obtained in this study showed that the marginal fits of the glass infiltrated alumina cores fabricated from the alumina tapes are slightly higher value than those prepared using the In-ceram but the difference is within a clinically acceptable range.
Aluminum Oxide* ; Ceramics ; Crowns ; Glass Ionomer Cements ; Glass*

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*

OBJECTIVE: Our aim is to evaluate the usefulness of fluid-attenuated inversion recovery(FLAIR) magnetic resonance(MR) imaging for detection of acute intraventricular hemorrhage(IVH) compared with pre-contrast computed tomography(CT). METHODS: Twenty-eight patients with acute IVH were evaluated with FLAIR MR imaging and precontrast CT. All MR and CT examination were performed within two days from symptom onset. One neurosurgeon and one radiologist evaluated the detectability and conspicuity of acute IVH on FLAIR MR imaging and pre-contrast CT. RESULTS: Acute IVH was detected in all patients on FLAIR MR imaging and in 23(82%) of 28 patients on pre-contrast CT. The conspicuity of IVH on FLAIR MR imaging was as good as or better than that on pre-contrast CT in 28 patient. CONCLUSION: It is suggested that FLAIR MR imaging is superior to pre-contrast CT in the diagnosis of acute IVH.
Diagnosis ; Hemorrhage* ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging*

BACKGROUND: The burden of cardiac complications during endoscopy are growing due to increasing proportion of elderly in the endoscopy target population. This study was conducted to examine the blood pressure changes before and after the endoscopy and to seek better pre-treatments in minimizing cardiac complications. METHODS: One hundred subjects were chosen by consecutive sampling who visited a general hospital for physical examination. Basal, pre-endoscopic, immediate post-endoscopic blood pressure and blood pressure after 10 and 30 minutes were measured utilizing manual BP cuffs and recorded. RESULTS: The subjects included 34 hypertensive patients. Twelve subjects were on anti hypertensive medication. In 5 consecutive measurements, significant variations on blood pressure was noted (P<0.01). Blood pressure kept increasing until immediately after the procedure, followed by a gradual reduction. These changes were observed in both the normotensive and the hypertensive group, but the degree of changes were more pronounced in the hypertrensive group than the normotensive group (P<0.01). The difference between basal and after procedure was 17.6 mmHg for systolic, 13.5 mmHg for diastolic in the normotensive group. However in the hypertensive group, the difference was 21.4 mmHg for systolic, 14.8 mmHg for diastolic. In comparison of medicated and non-medicated group in the hypertensive patients, the degree of changes were marginally, but significantly lower in the treatment group than in the non-treatment group (systolic P=0.056, diastolic P=0.049). CONCLUSION: The stress during endoscopy resulted in blood pressure changes, and the degree of changes was higher in the hypertensive group than the normotensive group. In the hypertensive group, the degree of changes was lower in patients treated with anti hypertensives than the non-treated patients. This sample size, however, was small.
Aged ; Antihypertensive Agents ; Blood Pressure* ; Endoscopy* ; Health Services Needs and Demand ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Physical Examination ; Sample Size

We report herein a case of lentigo maligna in a 60-year-old female that progressed to lentigo maligna melanoma. She had an uneven dark brownish pigmented and irregular-bordered macule on the right cheek, which gradually extended peripherally over the last 20 years and became 2.5x2.5cm in size. A dark brownish nodule developed in the inferior portion of the macule 7 months ago. The histopathologic findings were consistent with lentigo maligna and lentigo maligna melanoma. The lesion was excised with a surgical margin of 1cm and a full thickness skin graft was performed.
Cheek ; Female ; Humans ; Hutchinson's Melanotic Freckle* ; Lentigo* ; Melanoma* ; Middle Aged ; Skin ; Transplants

The purely epithelioid malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor(MPNST) is a rare form of MPNST, first described by McCormack et al. in 1954. This tumor type differs from ordinary epithelioid MPNST because of absence of spindle cell components. The patient was 25-year-old woman with palpable bean-sized subcutaneous mass on the right upper arm for 8 months which enlarged gradually. On physical examinations, we could not find a evidence of lymphadenopathy or von Reklinghausen's disease. Microscopically the tumor showed well circumscribed encapsulated nodular pattern composed of epithelioid cells. The cells were plump round or polygonal cells which had vesicular nuclei and prominent nucleoli with abundant eosinophilic and some clear cytoplasms. Immunohistochemical study showed the cells being positive for S-100 protein and neuron specific enolase and negative for HMB-45, cytokeratin and vimentin. We report a case of purely epithelioid malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor which is located superficially without evidence of von Recklinghaunsen's disease or associated peripheral nerve.
Adult ; Arm ; Cellular Structures ; Cytoplasm ; Eosinophils ; Epithelioid Cells ; Female ; Humans ; Keratins ; Lymphatic Diseases ; Neurilemmoma ; Peripheral Nerves* ; Phosphopyruvate Hydratase ; Physical Examination ; S100 Proteins ; Vimentin