BACKGROUND: The visible cutaneous pigmentary response to ultraviolet A(UVA) is immediate, whereas ultraviolet B(UVB)-induced pigmentation appears after a delay of several days. However, some investigators reported that UVA also can induce delayed taniing. OBJECTIVE: In order to determine whether the pigmentation induceil by UVA irradiation is accompanied by melanocytes responses which are the same or different from those following a UVB-indueed tan, we irraiated malignant melanoma cells to UVA or UVB. METHOD: On the 7th day after irradiation of UVA or UVB, we exa nined the cell counts and the melanin content of control and experimental groups. RESULTS: Although a dose of 10 J/cm decreased the number of manignant melanoma cells, there was no significant difference between the control and UVA-exposure griiups. But there was a significant decrease after UVB-exposun. UVB-exposure groups showed a significant increase of melanin cortent. A dose of 10 J/cm of UVA also induced a significant increase of melanin content. CONCLUSIONS: The data suggest that UVA at a clinically relevant dose has a significant effect on human melanocytes. So, UVA very likely plays a role in the increased, melanization associated with delayed tanning.
Cell Count ; Cell Line* ; Humans ; Melanins ; Melanocytes ; Melanoma* ; Pigmentation ; Research Personnel ; Tanning ; Triacetoneamine-N-Oxyl

BACKGROUND: Fixed drug eruptions(FDE) are a cutaneous reaction characterized by one or more circumscribed lesions that recur at the same site in response to a given medication. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to find the clinical and histopathological characteristics of FDE and to compare early FDE with late FDE histopathologically. METHOD: We clinically investigated 54 cases of FDE that visited the department of dermatology at the Kyunghee medical center from January 1993 to December 1996. Among them, 31 patients had skin biopsies and were evaluated histopathologically on the basis of duration. RESULTS: The results were summarized as follows: 1. Development of FDE did not show any difference according to sex and was evenly distributed over all the ages. 2. The latent periods of FDE were diverse in appearance from 30 minutes to 10 days, but mostly, the skin lesions erupted within 4S hours. 3. The most common skin lesions were erythematous macules. 4. Distribution of the lesions came out as solitary: 20.4%, multiple: 79.6%. S3.7% of the multiple lesions were localized to a part of body, and 16.3% were distributed over the whole body. 5. The areas in which the eruptions developed were (in descending order): upper extremity(37.0%), hand(31.5%), trunk(24.1%), face(24.1%). 6. In most cases(68.6%), the size and the number of lesions were greater in recurrente, rather than in first attacks. 7. The histopathological findings commonly showed perivascular mononuclear cell(MNC) infiltration (100%), pigmentary incontinence(77.4%), basal hydrophic degeneration(71.0%), eosinophil infiltration in dermis(61.3%), etc. 8. The epidermal histopathological findings such as spongiosis, exocytosis of MNC, basal hydrophic degeneration, keratinocyte necrosis and subepidermal vesicles could be seen more frequently in early lesions than in late ones. CONCLUSION: In our study, we were able to obtain meaningful results based on data from the combination of clinical and histopathological investigations. This study may give help to understand the characteristics of fixed drug eruptions and to plan future studies.
Biopsy ; Dermatology ; Drug Eruptions* ; Eosinophils ; Exocytosis ; Humans ; Keratinocytes ; Necrosis ; Skin

Hypohidrotic ectodermali dysplasia is a rare and heterogenous genodermatosis that is characterzed by hypohidrosis, hyptrichosis, dental hypoplasia, and a characteristic facies. A 16-month-old male was evaluated for anodontia and anhidrosis since birth. There was no family history of this disease. His face was characterized by a broad nose and sparse eyebrows and periorbital wrirkling. The skin was dry, and scalp hairs were thin and sparse. Skull X-ray finding revealed noth ing remarkable except de;ayed teeth eruption. His developmental status for which we used DDS'I' was slightly reduced on inental development and showed normal on physical development. A skin biopsy was done on skin from the left palm, which showed a few immature eccrine glands in the dermis. We report a typical form of hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia with a review of the literature.
Anodontia ; Biopsy ; Dermis ; Eccrine Glands ; Ectodermal Dysplasia 1, Anhidrotic* ; Eyebrows ; Facies ; Hair ; Humans ; Hypohidrosis ; Infant ; Male ; Nose ; Parturition ; Scalp ; Skin ; Skull ; Tooth

The cutaneous metastasis of pancreatic carcinoma by this technique is rarely reported in the literature. A 67-year-old woman was evaluated for left-sided abdominal pain and a palpable abdominal mass. Abdominal CT confirmed the presence of a solid mass involving the pancreas. Ultrasonically guided percutaneous aspiration biopsy was performed. About six month later, the patient was readmitted with a tender tumor mass at the site of the previous aspiration biopsy. Physical examination disclosed a 4 × 4 cm sized firm, tender tumor mass on the abdomen. Histopathological findings of the tumor mass are consistent with metasta tic lesions from a pancreatic carcinoma. We report a case that suggests cutaneous metastsis of pancreatic carcinoma by fine needle aspiration biopsy.
Abdomen ; Abdominal Pain ; Aged ; Biopsy* ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle* ; Biopsy, Needle ; Female ; Humans ; Neoplasm Metastasis* ; Pancreas ; Physical Examination ; Tics ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

No abstract available.
Foot* ; Hand*

Otologic complaints, including otalgia, tinnitus, vertigo, and hearing loss, are known to be related to temporomandibular disorders (TMDs). There have been several hypotheses regarding the clinical correlation between otologic complaints and TMDs, based on clinical phenomena with corresponding symptoms, the close neurological relationship between otic and masticatory structures, and anatomical features of the tympanic cavity and jaw joint. Function of the tensor tympani muscle seems to be crucial to understanding TMD-related otologic symptoms. The tensor tympani inserts into the handle of the malleus and it modulates sound transduction in situations of excessive noise. This muscle is innervated by the trigeminal nerve, like the masticatory muscles. Voluntary eardrum movement by pathological tensor tympani contraction results in various otologic symptoms. Thus, co-contraction of the tensor tympani with the masticatory muscle could be a possible cause of TMD-related otologic symptoms. The tensor tympani is rather unrelated to the acoustic reflex, in which the stapedius is strongly involved. The tensor tympani seem to be controlled by proprioceptive information from the trigeminal sensory nucleus. The peripheral innervation pattern of the tensor tympani and masticatory muscles is also supposed to be interconnected. The middle ear structure, including the malleus, incus, and tensor tympani, of mammals had been adapted for acoustic function and lacks the masticatory role seen in non-mammalian jawed vertebrates. The tensor tympani in non-mammals is one of the masticatory muscles and plays a role in the modulation of sound transduction and mastication. After the functional differentiation of the mammalian middle ear, the nervous connection of the tensor tympani with other masticatory apparatus still remains. Through this oto-stomatognathic vestige, the tensor tympani seems to contract unnecessarily in some pathological conditions of the TMD in which the masticatory muscles contract excessively. We hypothesized that the phylogenic relationship between the tensor tympani and masticatory apparatus is a significant and logical reason for TMD-related otologic complaints.
Acoustics ; Ear, Middle ; Earache ; Hearing Loss ; Incus ; Jaw* ; Joints ; Logic ; Malleus ; Mammals ; Mastication ; Masticatory Muscles ; Noise ; Reflex, Acoustic ; Stapedius ; Temporomandibular Joint Disorders ; Tensor Tympani* ; Tinnitus ; Trigeminal Nerve ; Tympanic Membrane ; Vertebrates ; Vertigo

BACKGROUND: In the skin, the major stimulus for cutaneous pigmentation is ultraviolet radiation. The most important physiologic role of melanin is protection against harmful UV radiation to skin. It is known there are some differences in melanization between a single and multiple exposures of UVB, in vivo. Little if known about the functions of the melanocyte alone in cutaneous pigmentation after ultraviolet exposure, because of the complexity of interactions in the whole epidermis. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of multiple exposures at various dosages of UVB, and to compare the effect of UVB in multiple divided exposures with a single exposure at the same total dosage of UVB on proliferation and melanization in cultured human melanocyte. METHODS: Melanocytes were cultured by modified TIC medium. The melanoctes were exposed daily for three consecutive days to UVB at 2, 4, 8 and 16 mJ/cm2and a single exposure at 24 mJ/cm2. The morphologic changes were examined by phase contrast microscopy. The melanocytes were counted by hemocytometer and melanin contents were assayed by spectrophotometer. RESULTS: 1. The effects of multiple UVB exposures: 1) The morphologic changes were as follows: With three time exposures at a dosage of 8 mJ/cm2, themelanocytes enlarged in size, and elongated their dendrites slightly; with three time exposures at a dosage of 16 mJ/cm2, enlargement in sized and elongation of dendrited were more significant. 2) With three time exposures at dosages of 2 nd 4 mJ/cm2, the proliferation of melanocytes was stiumlated significantly(p<0.05). However, with three time exposures at dosages of 8 and 16 mJ/cm2the proliferation was inhibited(p<0.05). 3) With three time exposures at dosages of 2 and 4 mJ/cm2, the melanin contents were decreased. However, with three tiem exposures at a dosage of 16 mJ/cm2, the melanin contents were highly increased(p<0.01). 2. The comparison between multiple divided exposures and a single exposure at the same toal dosage of UVB: 1) There were no morphologic differences of dendrities between with three time exposures at a dosage of 8 mJ/cm2 and with a single exposure at a dosage of 24 mJ/cm2. However enlarged melanocytes were more numerous with a single exposure. 2) The proliferation of melanocytes was more inhibited with a single exposure than with multiple divided exposures(p<0.05). 3) The melanin contents were more increased with a single exposure than with multiple divided exposures(p<0.05). CONCLUSION: With multiple exposures at lower dosages of UVB, the proliferation of melanocytes was stimulated, and melanization was decreased. However, with multiple exposures at higher dosages of UVB, the proliferation was inhibited, and melanization was increased. At the same total dosage of UVB, the proliferation was more inhibited, and the melanization was more increased with a single exposure than with multiple divided exposures.
Dendrites ; Dermatitis, Irritant ; Epidermis ; Humans* ; Melanins ; Melanocytes* ; Microscopy, Phase-Contrast ; Pigmentation ; Skin ; Tics

BACKGROUND: Primary hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) is the second cause of cancer death in our country. Hepatitis B virus(HBV) and hepatitis C virus(HCV) are important risk factors for hepatocellular carcinoma. The mechanism of HCC development and the epidemiology in HCV infected individuals are still unclear. In this study, we investigated the epidemiolgical and clinical features of HCC in relation to viral infection. METHODS: We reviewed the medical records of 160 HCC patients retrspectively who had been admitted to one University Hospital located in Seoul between January 1991 and December 1995. Among these patients, 113 patients were positive for HBsAg(B group), 24 for anti-HCV(C group). We compared epidemiological and clinical data between B group and C guoup. RESULTS: Anti-HCV positivity was significantly higher in HBsAg negative patients than in HBsAg positive patients(53.3:1.7%, p<0.01). The mean age of patients in B group was significantly lower than that in C group(52:62yr, p<0.01). In C group, the proportion of Child-Pugh class B and C was significantly larger than that of B group(35.4: 75.0%, p<0.01). In C group, the proportion of transfusion history was significantly larger than that in B group(4.4: 16.7%, p<0.05), and the proportion of drug abuse hestory was significantly larger than that in B group (31.0:62.5%, p<0.01). In C group, the albumin, cholesterol, Gamma-glutamyl transferase leves were significantly lower than those in B group. In B group, the proportion of metastasis was significantly larger than that in C group(31.9:4.2%, p<0.01). Alpha fetoprotein levels greater than 400ng/ml are much more prevalent in group B significantly(67:39.1%, p<0.05). No significant differences in cumulative survival rate(1yr, 2yr) and median survival time were observed between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: We ascertain that the HBV and HCV are inportant factors in HCC. In epidemiology and clinical features of HCC, there were some difference between the HBsAg and anti HCV positive group. Therefore, on primary health care settings, it is necessary to test for hepatitis C as well as hepatitis B in order to prevent and manage HCC and chronic liver desease.
alpha-Fetoproteins ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular* ; Cholesterol ; Epidemiology* ; Hepatitis B ; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens* ; Hepatitis C ; Humans ; Liver ; Medical Records ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Primary Health Care ; Risk Factors ; Seoul ; Substance-Related Disorders ; Transferases

No abstract available.
Antibodies* ; Chungcheongnam-do* ; Diagnosis* ; Immunoglobulin G* ; Immunoglobulin M* ; Orientia tsutsugamushi* ; Rickettsia* ; Scrub Typhus*

No abstract available.
Antibodies* ; Chungcheongnam-do* ; Diagnosis* ; Immunoglobulin G* ; Immunoglobulin M* ; Orientia tsutsugamushi* ; Rickettsia* ; Scrub Typhus*