Smooth muscle hamartoma was first described by Stokes in 1923 as the disease characterized by increase of well-defined bundles of smooth muscle fibers in the dermis. It can be either congenital or acquired. Acquired ones are aften in association with Becker's nevus. We present a case of acquired smooth muscle hamartoma that did not show any pigmentation or hair growth.
Dermis ; Hair ; Hamartoma* ; Muscle, Smooth* ; Nevus ; Pigmentation

We report a patient who had been initially diagnosed as a myelodysplastic syndrome in 1998 presenting purpuric patches on the left arm that started to develop about a year prior. The purpuric lesions were diagnosed as leukemia cutis by skin biopsy. Her subsequent bone marrow biopsy showed progression into an atypical chronic myeloid leukemia with increased numbers of leukocytes in the peripheral blood. Leukemia cutis typically is regarded as a sign of progression of disease or a manifestation of recurrent disease in treated patients with an established diagnosis of leukemia. We suggest that the skin lesion in this patient could have been a sign of con-version into atypical chronic myeloid leukemia.
Arm ; Biopsy ; Bone Marrow ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Leukemia* ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Chronic, Atypical, BCR-ABL Negative* ; Leukocytes ; Myelodysplastic Syndromes* ; Skin

No abstract available.
Facial Paralysis* ; Humans ; Malocclusion*

No abstract available.
Dermoscopy ; Hemangioma* ; Lasers, Dye

Milk of calcium located in the breast is typically a benign entity. However, carcinoma may incidentally arise adjacent to or even within milk of calcium. Consequently, the characteristics of all observed calcific particles should be carefully analyzed. In this study, we report a case of carcinoma presented as malignant microcalcifications mixed within milk of calcium in a breast.
Breast Neoplasms/*chemistry/radiography ; Calcium Carbonate/*analysis ; Carcinoma, Ductal/*chemistry/radiography ; Female ; Humans ; Mammography ; Middle Aged

As gastroduodenoscopy performed more frequently, case reports of human echinostomiasis are increasing in Korea. A Korean woman presented at a local clinic with complaints of abdominal pain and discomfort that had persisted for 2 weeks. Under gastroduodenoscopy, two motile flukes were found attached on the duodenal bulb, and retrieved with endoscopic forceps. She had history of eating raw frog meat. The two flukes were identified as Echinostoma hortense by egg morphology, 27 collar spines with 4 end-group spines, and surface ultrastructural characters. This report may prove frogs to be a source of human echinostome infections.
Animals ; Duodenal Diseases/*parasitology ; Duodenum/*parasitology ; Echinostoma/*isolation & purification ; Echinostomiasis/*diagnosis ; Endoscopy ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Middle Aged

Acral persistent papular mucinosis has been thought to be a distinct for of cutaneous mucinosis not associated with systemic diseases. It was recently classified as one of five subtypes of localized lichen mixedematosus. A 64-year-old man presented with a 15-year history of flesh-colored to translucent papules and a few round hypopigmented patches on his wrists, back of the hands, and distal forearms. Biopsy from the papular lesions revealed focal mucin accumulation in the upper reticular dermis. The clinical and histopathological features were consistent with acral persistent papular mucinosis.
Biopsy ; Dermis ; Forearm ; Hand ; Humans ; Lichens ; Middle Aged ; Mucinoses ; Mucins ; Scleromyxedema* ; Wrist

Spinal epidural abscesses were evaluated using Gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in 19 surgically and clinically confirmed cases, including 13 with tuberculous spondylitis and 6 with pyogenic spondylitis. We observed rim enhancement patterns in 10 patients and diffuse enhancement patterns in 9 patients. The spread patterns were localized to ventral or dorsal epidural space and encircled entire epidural space. We conclude that rim enhancement indicates abscess and diffuse enhancement indicates granulation tissue and fibrosis. Tuberculous epidural abscess spreads to ventral epidural space and pyogenic epidural abscess encircles entire epidural space.
Abscess ; Epidural Abscess* ; Epidural Space ; Fibrosis ; Granulation Tissue ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Spondylitis

No abstract available.
Herpes Zoster* ; Psoriasis*

BACKGROUND: Postoperative admission to the surgical intensive care unit (S-ICU) is commonly planned to prevent and treat complications, unnecessary admission to the S-ICU increases medical costs and length of hospital stay. This study aimed evaluated outcome and the predictive factors for mortality in patients admitted to the S-ICU after abdominal surgery. METHODS: The 168 patients admitted to the S-ICU immediately after abdominal surgery were reviewed retrospectively from January to December 2011. RESULTS: The mortality rate of patients admitted to the S-ICU after abdominal surgery was 8.9% (15 of 168). Two preoperative factors (body mass index [BMI] < 18.5 kg/m2 [p < 0.001] and serum albumin < 3.0 g/dL [p = 0.018]), two operative factors (the need for transfusion [p = 0.008] or vasopressors [p = 0.013] during surgery), and three postoperative variables (mechanical ventilation immediately following surgery [p < 0.001], sequential organ failure assessment [p = 0.001] and SAPS II [p = 0.001] score) were associated with mortality in univariate analysis. After adjusting for age, gender, and SAPS II by a Cox regression, which revealed that BMI < 18.5 kg/m2 (p < 0.001, hazard ratio [HR] 9.690, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.990-25.258) and the use of mechanical ventilation on admission to S-ICU (p < 0.001, HR 34.671, 95% CI 6.440-186.649) were independent prognostic factors. CONCLUSIONS: In patients in S-ICU after abdominal surgery, low BMI and postsurgical mechanical ventilation should be considered important predictors of mortality.
Abdomen* ; Body Mass Index ; Humans ; Critical Care ; Intensive Care Units ; Length of Stay ; Mortality ; Postoperative Complications ; Prognosis* ; Respiration, Artificial ; Retrospective Studies ; Serum Albumin ; Ventilation