BACKGROUND: All though the cause of alopecia areata is not known, many studies have recenty focused on the autoimmunity of alopecia areata. OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to detect autoantibodies against hair follicular antigens and compare the autoantibody level before and after treatment of alopecia areata. METHODS: We collected serum from: (a) 7 alopecia areata patients with good therapeutic responses, (b) 5 alopecia areata patients with poor therapeutic responses (c) 5 normal control people. First, we detected the antigens of hair follicles with SDS-PAGE. Secondly we reacted the antigens with the patients' and normal control serums by Western blotting. RESULTS: The follicular antigens were seen in the range of 44kD-57kD. Autoantibodies obviously apparent in patients of alopecia areata but not in the normal control. High concentrations of were Autoantibodies against follicular antigens seemed to be present in the patients with good therapeutic responses and as they had been treated well, the level of autoantiboies has decreased. Autoantibodies, however, were present in small amounts and were almost an changed between before and after treatment in the patients with poor therapeutic responses except for one case. CONCLUSION: There are kinds of autoantibodies against hair follicles in the serums of alopecia areata patients, and the titers of antibodies may be correlated with therapeutic responses.
Alopecia Areata* ; Alopecia* ; Antibodies ; Autoantibodies* ; Autoimmunity ; Blotting, Western ; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel ; Hair Follicle* ; Hair* ; Humans

We report a case of disseminated cutaneous metastatic carcinoma from stomach carcinoma in a 66-year-old male who complained chiefly of widespread cutaneous nodules. He had been admitted to the Department of Internal Medicine for stomach carcinoma. A radiological examination revealed a diffuse stomach wall thickening from the fundus to the antrum, and enlargement of paraaortic and pericaval lymph nodes during an abodominal CT scan. The clinical findings manifested above may suggest cutaneous metastasis from stomach carcinoma. A histological examination of the skin and stomach biopsies showed atypical cells with pleomorphic, hyperchromatic nuclei and bubble-like cytoplasm, which are consistent with poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma. Immunohistochemical stainings showed that these cells were positive for epithelial membrane antigen (EMA), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and low molecular weight cytokeratin.
Adenocarcinoma ; Aged ; Biopsy ; Carcinoembryonic Antigen ; Cytoplasm ; Humans ; Internal Medicine ; Keratins ; Lymph Nodes ; Male ; Molecular Weight ; Mucin-1 ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Skin ; Stomach* ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

The reservoir hosts of Thelazia callipaeda were examined. The eyes of the 76 dogs raised at farm, 78 military dogs (shepherds), 96 cattle, and 105 pigs were investigated for the presence of eyeworm. Among them, six worms of T. callipaeda were collected from two dogs raised at farm (2.7%), and 188 worms from 26 shepherds (33.5%). No worms were recovered from the cattle or pigs. These results suggest that the dogs, especially the military dogs are serving as a reservoir host of T. callipaeda. in Korea.
Animals ; Cattle ; Disease Reservoirs/*veterinary ; Dog Diseases/epidemiology/*parasitology ; Dogs ; Eye/parasitology ; Female ; *Host-Parasite Interactions ; Korea/epidemiology ; Male ; Prevalence ; Spirurida Infections/epidemiology/parasitology/*veterinary ; Swine ; Thelazioidea/*isolation & purification

Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA, PC10), an auxillary protein of DNA polymerase, plays a main role in the early stage of DNA Synthesis and is synthesized from Gl phase to s phase of the cell cycle. Nucleolar organizer region (NORs) are DNA loops encoding RNA proteins(AgNORs). To evaluate correlation with PCNA labelling index (LI)and AgNORs according to histological grades and clinical stages of transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder, the authors analysed 54 transitional cell carcinoma using immunohistochemical stain for PCNA and silver stain for AgNORs in paraffin sections. The comparison of PCNA (PC10) LI and clinical stage showed a significant correlation (p<0.05), where as PCNA (PC10) LI according to histologic grade showed no significant correlation. High grade tumors showed increase PCNA LI. Superficial tumors (Ta-Tl) showed significantly lower PCNA LI than muscle invasive tumors (T2-T4)(p<0.05). There was no significant correlation between AgNORs and clinical stage, bur higher stage and higher grade tumors showed increased noubers of AgNORs. These results suggest that PCNA LI has a significant correlation with clinical stages of transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder.

Adenomyoepithelioma is a rare benign tumor which occurs mainly in the skin, salivary gland and very rarely in the breast. Histologically this tumor demonstrates biphasic differentiation of luminal epithelial cells and myoepithelial cells. We report a case of adenomyoepithelioma occuring in the outer lower quadrant of the right breast of a 56-year-old female, confirmed histologically with an aid of immunohistochemistry. This is the first documented report in Korean literature.
Adenomyoepithelioma* ; Breast* ; Epithelial Cells ; Female ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Middle Aged ; Phenobarbital ; Salivary Glands ; Skin

Twenty-nail dystrophy is an idiopathic nail dystrophy in which all twenty nails are uniformly and simultaneously affected with excess longitudinal ridging and loss of lustre. The pathogenesis is controversial, and the treatment is unsuccessful. It is thought to have a self-limiting and reversible nature when it develops in childhood, but in adults, it is unusual and exists persistently. We re-port here two cases of adult patients with dystrophy of all twenty nails, whose ages were 58 and 55. The disease had been present for one year and may be associated with alopecia areata in the 58 year old and an idiopathic condition in the 55 year old. Negative results were obtained on mycological studies. Biopsies taken from the nail bed revealed marked hyperkeratosis consistent with nail dystrophy.
Adult ; Alopecia ; Alopecia Areata ; Biopsy ; Humans

PURPOSE: The ictal perfusion patterns of cerebellum and basal ganglia have not been systematically investigated in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Their ictal perfusion patterns were analyzed in relation with temporal lobe and frontal lobe hyperperfusion during TLE seizures using SPECT subtraction. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-three TLE patients had interictal and ictal SPECT, video-EEG monitoring, SPGR MRI, and SPECT subtraction with MRI co-registration. RESULTS: The vermian cerebellar hyperperfusion (CH) was observed in 26 patients (78.8%) and hemispheric CH in 25 (75.8%). Compared to the side of epileptogenic temporal lobe, there were seven ipsilateral hemispheric CH (28.0%), fifteen contralateral hemispheric CH (60.0%) and three bilateral hemispheric CH (12.0%). CH was more frequently observed in patients with additional frontal hyperperfusion (14/15, 93.3%) than in patients without frontal hyperperfusion (11/18, 61.1%). The basal ganglia hyperperfusion (BGH) was seen in 11 of the 15 patients with frontotemporal hyperperfusion (73.3%) and 11 of the 18 with temporal hyperperfusion only (61.1%). In 17 patients with unilateral BGH, contralateral CH to the BGH was observed in 14 (82.5%) and ipsilateral CH to BGH in 2 (11.8%) and bilateral CH in 1 (5.9%). CONCLUSION: The cerebellar hyperperfusion and basal ganglia hyperperfusion during seizures of TLE can be contralateral, ipsilateral or bilateral to the seizure focus. The presence of additional frontal or basal ganglia hyperperfusion was more frequently associated with contralateral hemispheric CH to their sides. However, temporal lobe hyperperfusion appears to be related with both ipsilateral and contralateral hemispheric CH.
Basal Ganglia* ; Cerebellum* ; Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe* ; Frontal Lobe ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Perfusion ; Seizures ; Temporal Lobe* ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon

Malignant rhabdoid tumor is a distinct renal tumor in pediatric age group and extremely rare in adults. It was originally described as a rhabdomyosarcomatoid variant of Wilms' tumor. But subsequent studies failed to confirm myogenous differentiation, so the rhabdoid tumor is now considered to be a distinct and unique disease type of highly malignant renal tumor, histogenetically unrelated to Wilms' tumor. However the histogenesis have not been clearly defined until now. We report a case of malignant rhabdoid tumor of the kidney in a 34-year-old man who represented with a left abdominal mass. Grossly, a large mass occupying most of the left kidney except for a part of upper pole was invading beyond renal capsule and the perirenal soft tissue. It measured 18x14 cm in dimension and was soft, lobulated and yellowish gray with large areas of hemorrhage and necroses. Microscopically, the tumor mass was composed of sheets of round or polygonal neoplastic cells growing in a solid pattern. These tumor cells were medium to large in size with ample cytoplasm containing recognizable eosinophilic inclusion and had an eccentrically located, large nucleus with one or a few prominent nucleoli. Mitotic figures were frequently observed. Ultrastructurally, the tumor cells contained whorled filamentous inclusions corresponding to vimentin, epithelial membrane antigen and cytokeratin in immunostaining.
Adult ; Male ; Female ; Humans

No abstract available.
Child* ; Humans

Congenital esophageal stenosis due to tracheobronchial remnants is one of main forms of congenital esophageal stenosis, and it was first described by Frey and Duschel in l936. An 18-month-old male presented with underdevelopment and dehydration state due to persistent vomiting several times per day since 3 months after his birth. Esophagogram revealed an elongated and diiated esophagus with marked stenosis at distal portion. Partial distal esophagectomy was performed. Histologically, the thickened esophageal wall is composed of tracheobronchial remnants including hyaline cartilages, mucous glands, and ductal structures lined by ciliated respiratory epithelium under stratified squamous mucosa.
Male ; Humans