Anaphylactic deaths are frequently observed at autopsies. Since death associated with medical practice has become social concern, the identification of anaphylactic shock is an important part of forensic medicine. However, autopsy findings of anaphylactic shock are usually non-specific; therefore, the diagnosis of anaphylactic shock must be inferred from collecting data on the past history of the deceased, circumstances of death, and negative autopsy findings. The analysis of serum mast cell tryptase level is a well-known, useful ancillary test for the diagnosis of anaphylactic shock, but is not widely used in daily practice in Korea. We recently encountered 2 autopsy cases of anaphylactic shock and confirmed that analysis of serum mast cell tryptase level was useful for the diagnosis of anaphylactic shock. In this report, we present these 2 autopsy cases of anaphylactic shock, with literature review of the usefulness and limitations of serum mast cell tryptase analysis.
Anaphylaxis ; Autopsy ; Forensic Medicine ; Korea ; Mast Cells ; Tryptases

No abstract available.
Motor Neurons* ; Urinary Bladder, Neurogenic* ; Urodynamics*

Medicolegal autopsy is a vital tool for obtaining reliable injury mortality data. This study statistically analyzed data obtained from medicolegal autopsies performed in Korea in 2013. The aim of this study was to analyze various aspects of the 4,861 deaths that were categorized as unusual in Korea in 2013. A total of 4,861 deaths were analyzed by gender, age, manner of death, and cause of death. Of the 4,861 deaths, 3,542 (73.3%) were of men and 1,302 (26.7%) were of women. With respect to the manner of death, 54.4% were recorded as unnatural deaths, 38.8% were natural deaths, and 6.9% had unknown causes. Of the 2,642 unnatural deaths, 45.0% were determined to be accidental deaths, 26.3% suicidal, 16.9% homicidal, and 11.8% undetermined. Of the total number of unnatural deaths, 42.1% were trauma-related deaths, for which falling down accounted for 33.8%. Asphyxiation accounted for 16.0% of unnatural deaths, and of these, the predominant cause was hanging (58.8%). In addition, 14.4% of deaths were due to drowning, 12.9% poisoning, 11.0% thermal injuries, 1.8% complications arising from medical procedures, and 0.8% electrocution, starvation, or neglect. Among the 1,886 natural deaths, heart diseases accounted for 52.0% and vascular diseases accounted for 16.9%. Of the 196 deaths among children under the age of 10 years, 41.8% were recorded as unnatural deaths, 45.1% were natural deaths, and 1.5% had unknown causes.
Autopsy* ; Cause of Death ; Child ; Data Interpretation, Statistical ; Drowning ; Female ; Heart Diseases ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Mortality ; Poisoning ; Starvation ; Vascular Diseases

There exist some restrictions and difficulties in performing follicular unit extraction (FUE) in white-haired patients, for several reasons. In this paper, we introduce a novel technique for visualizing white hair during the punching procedure and graft preparation in FUE for white-haired patients. In white-haired older male patients, we dyed the surrounding scalp skin purple with a gentian violet solution-stained toothpick. Our method has several advantages: surgeons can easily focus on the center of the follicular unit and rapidly perform punching, they can recognize the condition of the harvested follicular units during FUE, and the hair transplant team can secure a clear view for trimming and loading into the implanter. We suggest that scalp dyeing in difficult FUE procedures, especially in patients with white hair, may be a simple method that provides a good visualization for donor site harvesting and for microdissection.
Alopecia ; Gentian Violet* ; Gentiana* ; Hair ; Hair Color ; Humans ; Male ; Methods ; Microdissection ; Scalp ; Skin ; Surgeons ; Tissue Donors ; Transplants

OBJECTIVE: We developed a biosignal telemonitoring system which is based on HL7 and MFER standard. METHODS: For the communication of waveform data (ECG, EEG etc.) we adopted MFER(Medical waveform description Format Encoding Rules) standard and HL7(Health Level 7). MFER is a standard for encoding waveform biosignal such as ECG, EEG and so on. HL7 is a standard for electronic data communication between two different information systems. RESULTS: The telemornitoring system consists of an HL7 interface gateway and a central repository. The HL7 interface gateway has three modules of an MFER analyzer, an HL7 message generator, and a file sender. The central repository is a central database combined with an HL7 archiver. CONCLUSION: Through this study we might conclude that the proposed system can be a promising model for telemonitoring system in healthcare environment.
Delivery of Health Care ; Electrocardiography ; Electroencephalography ; Information Systems

Diagnosis of scabies in young children can be challenging since the morphology and distribution of skin lesions may differ from adults. Therefore, clinicians should keep scabies in mind in their differential diagnosis in a child who presents with severe pruritic, polymorphic skin lesions. Regarding the treatment of scabies, the reported clinical experience with gamma benzene hexachloride (lindane) in young children is quite limited because of its neurotoxicity. However, a recent review suggests that lindane is an excellent alternative drug with minimal risk. We report the case of a 2-month-old male infant with pruritic, erythematous macules, papules, nodules, vesicles, and pustules from the top of the head to the tip of the toes. Initially, he was thought to have impetigo and antibiotics were prescribed. After obtaining a careful history and with the use of skin scraping, he was diagnosed with scabies. He was successfully treated with lindane with no adverse reactions.
Adult ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Child ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Head ; Humans ; Impetigo ; Infant ; Lindane ; Male ; Scabies ; Skin ; Toes

Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) is the mainstay of treatment for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Although various complications of TACE have been reported, cerebral lipiodol embolism after TACE is rare. We report a 67-year-old man, who had patent foramen ovale and developed cerebral lipiodol embolism after TACE via the inferior phrenic artery. At 20 months after third TACE of 3 cm sized HCC in the left hepatic lobe, computed tomography (CT) revealed about 1.6 cm newly developed HCC in the anterior superior segment of right hepatic lobe. The angiogram revealed the HCC was supplied from the right inferior phrenic artery. Toward the end of TACE, there were accumulations of the iodized oil in the pulmonary vasculature. Immediately after TACE, he complained of weakness in right upper and lower limbs and sensory decrease in right limbs and right hemitrunk. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a cerebral lipiodol embolism. Transesophageal echocardiography revealed no visible thrombi but contrast-echocardiography using hand agitated saline revealed an intracardiac right to left shunt consistent with patent foramen ovale. Motor weakness and sensory decrease were gradually improved, and all neurological symptoms disappeared over 4 weeks.
Aged ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/complications/diagnosis/*therapy ; *Chemoembolization, Therapeutic ; Contrast Media/*adverse effects/diagnostic use ; Humans ; Intracranial Embolism/*diagnosis/*etiology/ultrasonography ; Iodized Oil/*adverse effects/diagnostic use ; Liver Neoplasms/complications/diagnosis/*therapy ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Seborrheic keratosis is one of the most common benign epithelial tumors, especially in elderly patients. Squamous cell carcinoma is the second most common malignant tumor of the skin. Despite the fact that both tumors are common, malignant transformation of seborrheic keratosis rarely occurs. Herein we report a case of squamous cell carcinoma arising in a patient with pre-existing seborrheic keratosis.
Aged ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Humans ; Keratosis, Seborrheic ; Skin

Leukocytoclastic vasculitis (LV) is characterized by neutrophilic invasion and fibrinoid necrosis along with endothelial enlargement in postcapillary venules. Annular appearance of LV (ALV) is rare, but it can be accompanied by several systemic diseases. One of these systemic diseases is ulcerative colitis (UC), a subgroup of inflammatory bowel disease. Only one case was previously reported in which ALV was associated with UC, and herein we present one more case. A 66-year-old woman presented with painful polycyclic erythema on both palms, which had been present for 4 days. She had suffered from UC for 5 years. The patient had no fever or other systemic symptoms, and histological examination demonstrated typical LV. 200 mg of oral dapsone was taken daily to rapidly reduce her symptoms and signs, and after 1 week all lesions resolved completely without any adverse events. ALV is not a distinct condition and it can appear in a broad range of small vessel vasculitides. Although ALV in patients with UC is a very rare combination, clinicians need to be aware of this possible association.
Aged ; Colitis, Ulcerative ; Dapsone ; Erythema ; Female ; Fever ; Glycosaminoglycans ; Humans ; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases ; Necrosis ; Neutrophils ; Ulcer ; Vasculitis ; Vasculitis, Leukocytoclastic, Cutaneous ; Venules

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Traumatic aortic injury (TAI) is rarely seen clinically, but is highly fatal. In determining how to treat TAI, there are many factors to consider, due to the complexity of concomitant injuries. The Society of Vascular Surgery recommends that thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) should be preferentially performed over open surgical repair. We evaluated the efficacy of TEVAR based on our experiences in TAI treatment. METHODS: Between July 2008 and August 2011, we conducted a retrospective analysis of the patients who underwent TEVAR following TAI and analyzed factors including TAI type and sites, time from injury to repair, Injury Severity Score, and complications. Seven patients with multiple injuries underwent TEVAR in the acute setting. Follow-up was accomplished regularly by computed tomographic angiography (CTA). RESULTS: Type III aortic injury, rib fractures, and hemothorax were found in all patients. TEVAR was successfully performed. Completion angiography demonstrated complete exclusion of pseudoaneurysm without endoleakage, and perfusion of aortic arch vessels was maintained. There was no in-hospital mortality or evidence of spinal cord ischemia. The average follow-up duration was 30.4 +/- 23.9 months, and regular CTA revealed good durability of the stent-graft without late complications such as endoleakage, stent migration, or pseudoaneurysm formation. CONCLUSIONS: Through this study, we were able to identify good mid-term results of TEVAR in our hospital. TEVAR is thought to be a good modality with which to treat acute traumatic aortic injury, especially given the consideration of bleeding risk in trauma patients with multiple injuries.
Aneurysm, False ; Angiography ; Aorta, Thoracic ; Aortic Aneurysm, Thoracic ; Endovascular Procedures ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hemorrhage ; Hemothorax ; Hospital Mortality ; Humans ; Injury Severity Score ; Multiple Trauma ; Perfusion ; Retrospective Studies ; Rib Fractures ; Spinal Cord Ischemia ; Stents ; Thoracic Injuries