BACKGROUND: Epidermal grafting using cryotherapy for recipient sites is in widespread use. However the peripheral hypopigmented haloes that occur around the recipient sites require prolon gation of the treatment period. OBJECTIVE: We used a CO2 laser to remove the epidermis of the recipient sites for betteri results. METHODS: We treated lie localized vitiligo patients with CO2 laser to remove t.he epidermis and grafted suction blister rooves. We observed repigmentation and complications 1 month later. RESULTS & CONCLUSIONS : The superiority of this method is demonstrated by the fact 1) all prodedures can be completed on the day of operation 2) the incidence of hypertrophic scar and peripheral hypopigmented halos can be observed.The problems of this method are 1) uneven repigmentation of recipient. sites 2) hyperpigrnentation of recipient sites
Blister ; Cicatrix, Hypertrophic ; Cryotherapy ; Epidermis* ; Humans ; Incidence ; Lasers, Gas* ; Suction ; Transplants* ; Vitiligo*

The congenital long-QT syndrome (LQTS) is characterized by recurrent syncope, prolonged QT intervals, QT interval lability, polymorphic ventricular tachycardia, and sudden death. We report a case of congenital long QT syndrome in a 28-day-old male infant who presented with syncope, bradycardia with 2: 1 pseudo-atrioventricular block and a markedly prolonged QT inteval. One episode occured after crying and degenerated into ventricular fibrillation and terminated after cardioversion. A VVI type cardiac pacemaker was implanted. Subsequently, the infant's heart rate was over 110/min and 2: 1 AV block and any other arrhythmia were absent. The infant recovered from the accompanied pneumonia and sepsis and was discharged 47 days after adrnission. However, 13 days after discharge, the infant returned to our hospital ER with syncope. Ventricular fibrillation ceased after cardioversion. Despite medication with propranolol, ventricular tachycardia persisted. The infant expired the day after he was discharged against medical advice.
Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Atrioventricular Block* ; Bradycardia ; Crying ; Death, Sudden ; Electric Countershock ; Heart Rate ; Hospitals ; Humans ; Infant ; Long QT Syndrome ; Male ; Pneumonia ; Propranolol ; Sepsis ; Syncope ; Tachycardia, Ventricular ; Ventricular Fibrillation

The dysplastic nevus is a rare form of melanocytic nevus in Korean people. During the past 5 years the authors experienced 5 cases in the St. Mary's Hospital and Kang Nam St. Mary's Hospital. The criteria and the histologic findings of dysplastic nevi are debated in the western literature. Clinically, all cases were greater than 5 mm in size with ill defined irregular borders and irregularly distributed pigmentation. Histopathologically, all cases showed numerous discrete individual nests of melanocytes located in the dermoepidermal junction and the papillary dermis and were characterized by extension of dermoepidermal component of the nevus at the "shoulder" beyond the dermal component of the nevus. There was no cytologic atypia of nevus cells in all cases. Our cases lacked personal or family history of malignant melanoma. Therefore, we believe our cases are nonfamilial, sporadic and benign nevi with no prognostic significance. A brief review of the literature and a discussion on the term "dysplastic" and clinicopathologic correlation are made.

Traumatic fat necrosis is a localized reaction of panniculus resulting from blunt trauma occurring predominantly on large pendulous breasts in elderly females and on the face in children. The facial lesions in children need no treatment and therapeutic excision is not indicated because a reasonable cosmetic result comes from spontaneous healing in a year or more. The clinicians unfamiliar with this problem may have confusion in diagnosis and management. Herein we report a case of a three-year-old girl who presented with a 3 cm sized erythematous and bullous plaque on her right cheek. The diagnosis of traumatic fat necrosis was made following clinical and pathological findings.
Aged ; Breast ; Cheek ; Child* ; Diagnosis ; Fat Necrosis* ; Female ; Humans

The author analyzed 169 cases of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhages at the basal ganglia and thalamus, who had been admitted to Jeonju Presbyterian Medical Center from 1975 to 1979. Intracerebral hematoma was confirmed by angiography and the amount of hematoma was divided as small, medium or large according to the angiographic evidence. Among the 169 cases, 145 cases underwent appropriate medical or surgical treatment. 63 cases were treated conservatively and 82 cases were operated ; 22 cases of frontal approach, 51 cases of temporal approach, and 9 cases of extraventricula diainage of clot. Results obtained are as follows : 1. The common pridiection age group was from the fifth to the seventh decades, which was 90.5% of all cases. The ratio of male to female was about 2 to 1. 2. putaminal hemorrhage was 65.1%, and thalamic hemorrhage was 16.6%. 3. Angiographic evidence of arteriosclerosis was seen in 86.4%. 4. The worse prognostic factors were related to age(over 65), site and size of hematoma, and mental state on admission. 5. With conservative management 49.2% were improved, 6.3% not improved, 44.4% moribund or dead. 6. With surgical treatment 58.5% were improved, 3.7% not improved, 37.8% moribund or dead. 7. Microsurgical temporal approach proved to have the following advantages over frontal approach. (1) Better outcome was found in this approach(64.7% vs 54.4%). (2) The distance to the hematoma was closer in temporal approach, and so total removal of hematoma and complete control of bleeding sources with less surrounding structural damages were possible. 8. Early operation seems to be more effective than delayed operation in the cases of large hematoma with deteriorating neurological signs.
Angiography ; Arteriosclerosis ; Basal Ganglia* ; Cerebral Hemorrhage* ; Female ; Hematoma ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Jeollabuk-do ; Male ; Protestantism ; Putamen ; Putaminal Hemorrhage ; Thalamus*

CT scans obtained on 15 patients of head and neck malignant tumors were evaluated for their utility in ratiotherapy treatment planning. To evaluate the advantage of incorporating CT scans in radiotherapy treatment planning of head and neck malignant tumors, the dose distributions of treatment plan with and without CT scan were compared in 15 patients. And then the dose distributions of the first and second treatment plan were compared. 1. Tumor extend and localization were clearly delineated on CT scan in 12 of 15 cases (80%), suggestive in 2 (13.3%), and not seen in only one (6.7%) which had been in the postoperative state. 2. Tumor coverage after CT scan was adequate in 14 of 15 cases (93.3%) and not in only one. In one case of inadequate tumor coverage the target volume lay inside the field but reached within 0.5cm of the field margin (marginal miss). 3. The volume of normal tissue irradiated was reduced after CT scan in 12 of 15 cases (80%), increased in 1 (6.7%) and not changed in 2 (13.3%). 4. We could maximize the local control of disease and minimize unnecessary morbidity by delineating the location and extent of tumor and normal tissue with CT for treatment plannings.
Head* ; Humans ; Neck* ; Radiotherapy* ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

There have been few description of spontaneous epidural hematoma of spinal cord in the young. Duration of symptoms in previous cases has varied from hours to days. We recently evacuated a 16-year-old boy with cord compression from an extradural clot, who complained of abdominal pain & diarrhea before becoming spinal epidural hematoma occurred in the young.
Abdominal Pain ; Adolescent ; Diarrhea ; Hematoma ; Hematoma, Epidural, Spinal* ; Humans ; Male ; Spinal Cord

BACKGROUND: Diffusion-weighted MR imaging (DWI) was designed to detect the random molecular otion of water in tissue. DWI has gained increasing interest recently because it can demonstrate yperacute stroke earlier than any other imaging methods so far. The purpose of our study was to etermine the clinical usefulness and significance of DWI compared with those of Fast Spin Echo T2-weighted image (SE T2WI) and Fluid Attenuated Inversion Recovery (FLAIR) image in acute and subacute ischemic stroke. METHOD: Twenty-five adult patients with clinical diagnoses of acute or subacute cerebral infarctions were imaged with fast SE T2WI, FLAIR and DWI using a 1.5-T image. RESULTS:All the patients had areas of high signal intensity indicating acute or subacute lesions on DWI and these lesions provide an excellent clinicoanatomic correlation. CONCLUSIONS: DWI is most useful in the diagnosis and localization of acute or subacute lacuna or subcortical infarction in patients with preexisting chronic infarctions or white matter hyperintensity showing high signal intensity similar to acute or subacute infarctions on T2WI or FLAIR image.
Adult ; Brain ; Cerebral Infarction ; Diagnosis ; Diffusion* ; Humans ; Infarction ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Stroke*

BACKGROUND: In febrile convulsions, glucose concentrations are known to increase both in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid(CSF). The reason behind this increase is, however, not completely understood. We have studied the effects of convulsion and fever on the CSF and blood concentrations in four different groups of children: convulsive and non- convulsive children, with and without fever. METHODS: This study was retrospectively undertaken to review medical records of 167 children who had lumbar puncture at Chosun University Hospital during 2 years from January 1994 to December 1996. The blood samples for glucose determinations were taken just before the lumbar puncture. The effects of several variables (body temperature, duration of fever, convulsions) were analysed on glucose concentrations in the CSF and blood between the groups. RESULTS: 1) The concentration of glucose in the CSF was significantly higher in convulsive children with(90.9+/-24.Smg/dl) and without fever(105+/-29.7mg/dl) than in non-convulsive children with(68.4+/-12.3mg/dl) and without fever(67.5+/-13.3mg/dl). 2) The concentration of glucose in the blood was not significant in the different groups. 3) There was no correlation between the body temperature and the concentration of glucose in the CSF(r=0.09, p>0.05).4) A negative correlation between the duration of the fever and the concentration of glucose in the CSF was found in febrile chi1dren (r=-0.26, p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that an increase in the CSF glucose concentration in convulsive children may be influenced more by a stress reaction, evoked by the seizure than increased body temperature.
Body Temperature ; Cerebrospinal Fluid* ; Child* ; Fever ; Glucose* ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Retrospective Studies ; Seizures* ; Seizures, Febrile ; Spinal Puncture