The subjects of the present study were 111 patients admitted to a hospital and 304 healthy people living in similar condition. A self report symptom inventory, SCL-90(symptom check list-90) was used and the two groups were analysed and compared by many factors. The results of theis study are as follows. 1. All dimensional values of the psoriasis group were much higher than the normal healthy group. In order of significance: depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive, psychotism, interpersonal sensitivity, hostility, and somatization(all p<0.01). This result indicates a significantly heightened incidence of psychological problems among psoriatic patients. 2. There were significant differences between each clinical type. As a whole, common and pustular types showed highter dimensional scores than guttate type. 3. In the psoriasis group, subjects over 30 years old had higher scores except in somatization and paranoid ideation dimensions. However there was no significant relationship between age and dimensional scores. 4. Female psoriatic patients showed higher values than male patients on all dimensions excopt paranoid ideation. T verification showed significance in depression and hostility (p<0.05). 5. Analysed by marital status, generally unmarried patients had higher dimensional scores than married patients, but there was no significant differences. 6. In contrast with the control group, psoriatic patients of low educational status showed higher dimensional scores than patients of high educational status. 7. Analysed by job at onset of disease, student patients showed the lowest scores. There were significant differences for somatization(p<0.01) and paranoid (p<0.05) dimensional scores. 8. Analysed by the age of onset of disease, the patients who developed psoriasis before 20 years of ages showed higher dimensional scores than the patients, after 20 years of age. 9. Compared according to duration of the disease, dimensional scores rose in patients under 1 year duration decreased in patients of 1 to 2 years' duration and rose again in parients over 3 years' duratio. 10. As the accuracy of understanding about the disease decreased, the dimensional scores tended to be higher.
Adult ; Age of Onset ; Anxiety ; Depression ; Educational Status ; Female ; Hostility ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Marital Status ; Psoriasis ; Self Report ; Single Person

The present study was designed to measure the activity of purine nucleosiae phosphorylase(PNPase) in sera and lymphocytes af peripheral blood from patients with allergie contact dermstitis and drug eruption since PNPase activities are known to be decreased in cell-mediated immune deficieney diseases. The PNPase activities in sera and lymphocytes of normal subjects were (7.2 +1.05) * 105 unit/L of sera and (1.85+0.38) unit/102 lymphocytes, respectively. In allergic contact dermatitis, the PNPase activities in sera and lymphocytes of patients were (3.9+0.78) *105 unit/L of aera and (0.69+0.23) uoit/102 lymphocyteis, which were signifieantly lower than those of normal subjects. There were no differences in PNPase activities of sera and lymphocytes between drug eruption patients and normal subjects. From these results, it is suggested that the lowered PNPase aetivity in allergie contact dermatitis might be associated with abnormal lymphocytes differentiation or activation or some other unknown mechanism, since lowered PNPase activity in allergic contact dermatitis is in contrast to the generally accepted concept that enhanced status of CMI in ACD will lead to the increase in PWPase activity.
Dermatitis, Allergic Contact* ; Dermatitis, Contact ; Drug Eruptions* ; Humans ; Lymphocytes* ; Purine-Nucleoside Phosphorylase*

OBJECTIVE: Hysterectomy is one of the most common gynecological operations. The objective of this study is to compare the efficacy of suturing methods of vaginal cuff between laparoscopic and vaginal approach. METHODS: One hundred and sixty one cases of laparoscopic hysterectomy were devided into two groups. In group A(n=67), vaginal cuff was sutured by laparoscopic suture technique and in group B(n=94), vaginal cuff was repaired by vaginal approach. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in uterine weight, hospital stay, pre-and postoperative hemoglobin level and complications including febrile morbidity in two groups. Operation time was significantly shorter in group B(p=0.05). CONCLUSION: Transvaginal repair of vaginal cuff showed shorter duration of operation time than laparoscopic suture technique in total laparoscopichy sterectomy.
Hysterectomy* ; Laparoscopy ; Length of Stay ; Suture Techniques

From September 1983 to August 1984, the clinical observations regarding cutaneous manifestations of 26(j cases of in-patients in the Department of Internal medicine with hepatic problems were observed at the Department of Derrnatology in Chonnam University Eiospital, The results were as follows: In the 266 patients, 201 patients(75.6%) revealed various cutaneous manifestaiions; Among them vascular spider occured in 100 (37. 6%), bleeding tendency in 67(25. 2%), pruritus in 65(24.4%), jaundice in 59 (22.2%), palmar erythema in 59(22. 2%), and melanosis in 56(21. l%). The incidences of skin changes by pattern of liver disease were as follows; In acte hepatits, prurit;us(46.8%) and acute urticarial & maculapapular eruption(36. 4%) were found in order. In chronic hepatitis, vascular spider(42. 6%) and melanosis (27. 9%) in order. In cirrhosis, vascular spider (62. 5%) and bleeding tendency (42. 0%) in order. In hepatic cancer vascular spider (24. 2%) and jaundice (21. 2%) in order. There were no statistically significant differences in sex distribution. In the incidences of skin changes by age groups, jaundice(p<0. 01) and melanosis were more frequently observed in the patients under the age of 29 and vascular spider (p<0.01 ) and melanosis in the patients are the age of 50. The longer the duration of illness were, the higher the incidences of skin changes except jaundice were.
Erythema ; Fibrosis ; Hemorrhage ; Hepatitis, Chronic ; Humans ; Incidence ; Internal Medicine ; Jaundice ; Jeollanam-do ; Liver Diseases ; Liver Neoplasms ; Melanosis ; Pruritus ; Sex Distribution ; Skin Manifestations* ; Skin* ; Spiders

We experienced 53-year-old male patient, who had an eczematous verrucous plaque measuring 6 x 4cm in diameter on the nasal bridge for 4 months. On physical examination, there was no abnormality except of palpable bean sized nodule on the left side of chin for 2 months. The overlying skin of the nodule is a quite normal appearance. The skin biopsy of the nodule showed the charact.eristic a.rrangement of the infiltrate in three zones. And the result of fungus culture of the thin tissue slice on Sabouraud media diagnosed fungal infection due to Sporotherix .schenkii. The treatment began with oral ketoconazole for 4 weeks, and the medication was interrupted for 2 weeks, because of no favorable effectiveness. On his revisit, a chain of painless nodules along lymphatics palpated on the right side of his f ace. We changed the therapy into saturated solution of potassium iodide(KI) with 0.25ml(5 drops) orally there times a day and was gradually increased administration of KI, And no side effects were noted. The patient was treated for a. total of 18 weeks, which included 6 weeks of treatment following clinical resolution.
Biopsy ; Chin ; Fungi ; Humans ; Ketoconazole ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Physical Examination ; Potassium ; Skin ; Sporotrichosis*

The majority of injections intended to be intramuscular are actually delivered into fat in the area of thebuttock in most of the patients having a thick gluteal fat layer. Injections of some drugs can cause tissuenecrosis that ensues in scar formation and often in dystrophic calcifiation giving rise to ring-like densities inantero-posterior radiographs of the pelvis. We studied the incidence and characteristics of calcifications in thebuttocks frequently noted in pelvic radiographs and whether they have any relationship with thickness anddistribution pattern of the fat layer in the buttocks. Pelvic radiograms of 220 consecutive patients (110 malesand 110 females) with the age ranging from 16 to 76 years(average 39) were reviewed. The area of buttock was divided arbitrarily into four quadrants by the vertical line crossing the center of the head of each femur and thehorizontal line connecting the summit of each femoral head, and the upper outer quadrant was further divided into four quadrants(Fig. 1). We measured the thickness of the extraperitoneal fat layer at the level where it cross theiliac crest bilaterally. The results were as follows; 1. Thirty out of 220 cases(14%) showed calcifications in thebuttock. 2. Calcifications in the buttock were much more frequent in female than in male (p<0.01). 3. Theincidence of calcifications increased with age(P<0.01) and with increase in fat layer thickness(P<0.01). 4,Calcifications in the buttock were mostly located at the upper outer quadrant of the buttock (78%). 5. Inconclusion, we assume that calcifications in the buttock are result of fat necrosis after injection into fatinstead of muscle.
Buttocks ; Cicatrix ; Fat Necrosis ; Female ; Femur ; Head ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Pelvis

This study was done to report the epidemiologic characteristics of medical retirement from the Republic of Korea (ROK) Army due to visual impairment and to suggest a practical screening system for the draft. The medical records of 423 eyes of 301 patients who retired from the ROK Army due to visual impairment were reviewed retrospectively between January 2010 and December 2014. The patients were grouped by the presence of trauma, and each group was subdivided by military rank. We analyzed demographic and ophthalmic data, including the etiology of ophthalmologic disease. The etiology was classified into 5 anatomical categories (ocular surface, lens, retina, optic nerve and extraocular visual pathway, and extraocular muscle and orbit), which were then subdivided into the type of disease. The mean age was 24.5 years, and non-traumatic mechanisms accounted for 81.1% (343/423 eyes) of medical retirements. Visual acuity was better in patients without trauma. In enlisted soldiers, disease in the optic nerve and extraocular visual pathway was the most common anatomical category (40.5%), and primary open angle glaucoma (30.8%), retinal dystrophy (18.3%), congenital cataract (14.5%), and retinal detachment (9.7%) were the four most common diseases. Most medical retirements due to visual impairment resulted from non-traumatic mechanisms, even though patients were young. The fundus examination and visual field test would be more useful tools than a conventional vision test for large-scale draft screening for the most common two disease types: primary open angle glaucoma and retinal dystrophy.
Adult ; Cataract/epidemiology ; Cohort Studies ; Glaucoma, Open-Angle/epidemiology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Military Personnel ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Retinal Dystrophies/epidemiology ; *Retirement ; Retrospective Studies ; Vision Disorders/epidemiology/*pathology ; Visual Acuity ; Young Adult

BACKGROUND: Diagnosis of paucibacillary leprosy is difficult owing to lack of sensitive diagnostic tools. Recently, several investigators have studied the use of polymerase chain reaction(PCR) to detect Mycobacterium leprae. Using nested-PCR the sensitivity and specificity of DNA amplification is considerably improved. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of investigation is to assess the efficacy to nested-PCR which is applied to formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded biopsies material of patients with leprosy. METHODS: Biopsy samples were taken from patients with lepromatous(11 patients) and tuberculoid (10 patients) leprosy, fixed in formalin, and embedded in paraffin. The DNA from samples was extracted and amplified through 25 cycles by using the outside pairs of primer(L1 and L2). The second amplification was allowed to proceed through 15 cycles using inside pairs of primer(L3 and L4). RESULTS: All twenty one samples showed 347-base-pair products. To confirm that the 347-bp product did correspond to the expected portion of the M. leprae groEL gene, the amplified product was digested with Pst I. Pst I digestion yielded 254-and 93-bp fragments, as predicted from the sequence of the M. leprae gene. The sensitivity was that a single organism was identified by nested-PCR. CONCLUSION: The nested-PCR is sensitive, specific, and simple diagnostic tool for leprosy.
Biopsy ; Diagnosis ; Digestion ; DNA* ; Formaldehyde ; Humans ; Leprosy ; Leprosy, Paucibacillary ; Mycobacterium leprae* ; Mycobacterium* ; Paraffin* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction* ; Research Personnel ; Sensitivity and Specificity

Leprosy is a multisystemic infectious disease showing various cutaneous manifestations by the reaction between Mycobacterium leprae (M. leprae) and host immunity. We de-scribe a 20-year-old woman with clinical multiple papulonecrotic skin eruptions resembling papulonecrotic tuberculid (PNT) and pityriasis lichenoides et varioliformis acuta (PLEVA). This kind of skin eruption is a new manifestation which has not been reported so far in lepromatous leprosy (LL).
Communicable Diseases ; Female ; Humans ; Leprosy ; Leprosy, Lepromatous* ; Mycobacterium leprae ; Pityriasis Lichenoides ; Skin Manifestations* ; Skin* ; Tuberculosis, Cutaneous ; Young Adult

Protein energy malnutrition occurs when inadequate protein and calories are ingested. PEM is not confined to children and is common in hospitalized patients. PEM is diagnosed by a weight loss and hypoalbuminemia. We report a case of PEM in a 27-year-old man after Whipple's operation. He had brittle hair, loss on the scalp and brownish colored papules with desquamation on extremities. Also he had erosion and fissuring on the perioral area and beef tongue. Treatment with zinc sulfate, albumin and vitamin resulted in a good response.
Adult ; Child ; Extremities ; Hair ; Humans ; Hypoalbuminemia ; Protein-Energy Malnutrition* ; Scalp ; Tongue ; Vitamins ; Weight Loss ; Zinc Sulfate