Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a treatment modality by highly reactive oxygen intermediates generated through the interaction of light with a photosensitizer. We treated actinic keratosis occurred on the face of a 65-year-old woman with topical PDT using 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) (MEDAC, Hamburg, Germany) and a 632nm diode laser (Creamoptec, Germany). 20% ALA was applied topically to the lesion sites which were then occluded for 6 hours. Light was administered at a wavelength of 632nm. The light intensity was 100mW/cm2 and the light dose was 100J/cm2. Although the diode laser was expensive, it was easy to handle the laser and the clinical results were excellent with respect to initial complete response and cosmetic outcome. There was only slight pain and a burning sensation during treatment.
Actins* ; Aged ; Burns ; Female ; Humans ; Keratosis, Actinic* ; Lasers, Semiconductor* ; Oxygen ; Photochemotherapy* ; Sensation

A 59-year old man presented with a 0.5 x 0.3 cm-sized area of, pink-colored, dome-shaped papules on the paranasal area. There was no previous history of trauma to the area. Histopathologic diagnosis was consistent with eccrine poroma. We reported a case of eccrine poroma arising on the paranasal area, an unusual location for this condition.
Diagnosis ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Poroma*

Transepidermal elimination is a spontaneously-developed phenomenon in certain skin disorders, in which altered connective tissue or foreign material is expelled via the epidermis to the exterior. We report a case of a 60-year-old man with a 1x1 cm sized, black-colored nodule, showing transepidermal elimination, on the right shin. Histological examination revealed a pigmented, epidermal cyst, containing deposition of pigment in its wall and cavity. To the best of our knowledge, no pigmented epidermal cysts have been reported in korea to date.
Connective Tissue ; Epidermal Cyst* ; Epidermis ; Humans ; Korea ; Middle Aged ; Skin

Desmoplastic Spitz nevus is a rare histological variant of Spitz nevus characterized by diffuse fibrosis without junctional activity, nesting, or pigmentation. Nevus cells are predomintantly spindle- shaped and compressed by a desmoplastic stroma. It presents typically as a firm, dome-shaped, flesh-colored papule or nodule, measuring up to 1cm in the greatest diameter, is most often located on extremities. We report a case of desmoplastic Spitz nevus occurring on the left side of the buttock in a 33-year-old women.
Adult ; Buttocks ; Extremities ; Female ; Fibrosis ; Humans ; Nevus ; Nevus, Epithelioid and Spindle Cell* ; Pigmentation

A 35-year-old woman with advanced lung cancer, treated with intravenous docetaxel and paclitaxel, developed subungual abscesses and secondary onycholysis involving all the finger nails. Bacterial culture demonstrated the growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. We report a case of onycholysis and subungual abscesses in a patient treated with docetaxel and paclitaxel.
Abscess* ; Adult ; Female ; Fingers ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; Onycholysis* ; Paclitaxel ; Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Centipedes are grouped in the Pylum Arthropoda, Class Chilopoda, and they can be found in moist environments such as litter or soil and under bark or stones. Most centipedes are nocturnal predators, feeding on insects, spiders, soil mites, nematodes, earthworms, or even small vertebrates. Bites usually cause local pain, erythema, edema, and sometimes systemic symptoms such as nausea, dizziness or pyrexia. A 47-year-old man presented with severe swelling, dysesthesia and vesiculation on the right forearm. Three days before the visit to the hospital, he had been bitten on the right forearm by a centipede while he had been sleeping during night at home. He was treated with antihistamines, antibiotics, systemic corticosteroids, topical steroid ointment and povidone iodine solution, and the lesion resolved without complication after a few days.
Adrenal Cortex Hormones ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Arthropods ; Dizziness ; Edema ; Erythema ; Fever ; Forearm ; Histamine Antagonists ; Humans ; Insects ; Middle Aged ; Mites ; Nausea ; Oligochaeta ; Paresthesia ; Povidone-Iodine ; Soil ; Spiders ; Vertebrates

Kaposi's sarcoma is a neoplastic, vascular tumor involving the skin or internal organs. We report a case of a 72-year-old male who presented with multiple, grouped, purpuric papules, hemorrhagic bullae and nodules showing zosteriform distribution on the sole of his right foot. In our case, as in some of the cases from the literature, the patient was initially misdiagnosed clinically as having herpes zoster. Histopathologic findings revealed a diffuse infiltrate of small blood vessels and slit-like spaces extending through most of the dermis. Many of the spindle-shaped cells expressed factor VIII-related antigen, and human herpes virus 8 (HHV-8) DNA was detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in paraffin-embedded tissue.
Aged ; Blood Vessels ; Dermis ; DNA ; Foot ; Herpes Zoster ; Humans ; Male ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sarcoma, Kaposi* ; Skin ; von Willebrand Factor

Kaposi's sarcoma is a neoplastic, vascular tumor involving the skin or internal organs. We report a case of a 72-year-old male who presented with multiple, grouped, purpuric papules, hemorrhagic bullae and nodules showing zosteriform distribution on the sole of his right foot. In our case, as in some of the cases from the literature, the patient was initially misdiagnosed clinically as having herpes zoster. Histopathologic findings revealed a diffuse infiltrate of small blood vessels and slit-like spaces extending through most of the dermis. Many of the spindle-shaped cells expressed factor VIII-related antigen, and human herpes virus 8 (HHV-8) DNA was detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in paraffin-embedded tissue.
Aged ; Blood Vessels ; Dermis ; DNA ; Foot ; Herpes Zoster ; Humans ; Male ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sarcoma, Kaposi* ; Skin ; von Willebrand Factor

Estrogen and progesterone are widely used in oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapies and are rarely known to cause a photosensitive reaction. We report a case of photosensitivity induced by the hormonal replacement agents containing estrogen and progesterone. A 36-year-old woman reported a 3-year history of erythematous papules and diffuse erythema on sun-exposed areas. She had taken the hormonal agents for 5 years, following a total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy for cervical cancer. A phototest showed a marked decrease in the minimal erythema dose (MED) of UVA (3J/cm2) and UVB (30mJ/cm2). After the cessation of the hormonal agents, the skin lesions subsided with the disappearance of photosensitivity, and the MED was raised to 5J/cm2(UVA) and 90mJ/cm2 (UVB).
Adult ; Contraceptives, Oral ; Erythema ; Estrogens* ; Female ; Hormone Replacement Therapy ; Humans ; Hysterectomy ; Progesterone* ; Skin ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms

BACKGROUND: The clinical distinction between herpes simplex virus (HSV) and varicella-zoster virus(VZV) skin infections is sometimes difficult. Potentially, immunohistochemical method can distinguish HSV from VZV infection. However, immunohistochemical studies for the differentiation between them have rarely been reported. OBJECTIVE: The purpose is to investigate the usefulness of immunohistochemical staining in differentiation between HSV and VZV infections. METHODS: We studied 9 cases of herpes zoster, 4 cases of chicken pox, and 5 cases of herpes simplex with monoclonal antibody to VZV. Routine histopathologic findings of the cases were also evaluated. RESULTS: All cases of VZV infections stained with antibody to VZV, but none of HSV infection stained. In VZV infection, 25% of the cases showed strong or diffuse positive reaction, whereas the rest of them showed weak or focal pattern. Histopathologically, the degree of inflammation was significantly greater in HSV infection than in VZV infection. However, vaculitis was more frequently found in VZV infection than in HSV infection. CONCLUSION: We think immunohistochemistry with antibody to VZV is very useful in the differentiation between HSV and VZV infections, even if the reaction pattern may be so weak or focal, as careful interpretation is necessary.
Diagnosis, Differential