Hair casts are firm, yellowish white accretions ensheathing but not attached to the scalp and are freely movable up and down the affected shafts. There are two types of hair casts. The common type is found frequently in association with parakeratotic scalp disorders. The uncommon type, peripilar keratin cast is not associated with any cutaneous abnormality either in the scalp or elsewhere and it develops in young girls aged between 2 and 8 years. We report two cases of peripilar keratin casts that had developed in sisters who have had tightly tied-up their hairs for a long time.
Female ; Hair* ; Humans ; Scalp ; Siblings*

We report a case of mycosis fungoides in a 30 year-old man who had been treated for multiple open fractures after a traffic accident. Histopathologic findings showed epidermotrophism wiih hyperchromatic haloed lymphocytes and atypical lymphocytic infiltration in the upper dermis. The infiltrated cells were positively stained with CD45Ro, but not with CD20. He had no evidence of extracutaneous involvement by laboratory studies, Skin lesions improved markedly after treatment with systemic PUVA therapy combined with topical corticosteroids for 3 months.
Accidents, Traffic ; Adrenal Cortex Hormones ; Adult ; Dermis ; Fractures, Open* ; Humans ; Lymphocytes ; Lymphoma, T-Cell, Cutaneous ; Mycosis Fungoides* ; PUVA Therapy ; Skin

Clear cell hidradenoma, generally as an eccrine sweat gland origin, is a fairly uncommon tumor and occurs as a slowly growing, usually solitary nodule. The histological patterns vary from one tumor to another and in different parts of the same tumor. We experienced three cases of clear cell hidradenoma which were diagnosed by the histopathologic examination of the tumor mass removed by surgical excision. Clinical and histopathologic features of each case were reviewed and compared.
Acrospiroma* ; Sweat Glands

Aneurysmal benign fibrous histiocytoma(ABFH) is a relatively rare variant and has a distinctive histopathological features, that is collections of capillaries, foci of hemorrhage, siderophages, and foamy macrophages surrounding cleft-like and cavernous blood filled spaces in the tumor. But, in spite af the distinctive features, it is not infrequently confused with malignant melanoma, angiomatoid malignant fibrous histiocytoma, and vascular tumors such as spindle cell hemangioendothelioma, nodular Kaposi's sarcoma and angiosarcoma. We report a case of ABFH developed on the left upper extremity of a 41-year-old man.
Adult ; Aneurysm* ; Capillaries ; Hemangioendothelioma ; Hemangiosarcoma ; Hemorrhage ; Histiocytoma, Benign Fibrous* ; Histiocytoma, Malignant Fibrous ; Humans ; Macrophages ; Melanoma ; Sarcoma, Kaposi ; Upper Extremity

An unusual pattern of focal involvement of lymph nodes by Hodgkin's disease is described using the name Interfollicular Hodgkin's Disease. It is characterized by florid reactive follicular hyperplasia which overshadows involvement of the interfollicular zones by Hodgkin's desease. The importance of interfollicular Hodgkin's disease rests on its misdiagnosis as a benign lesion. We report a case of interfollicular Hodgkin's disease in a 34-year-old female patient in the inguinal area. The lymph nodes showed reactive follicular hyperplasia. The focal interfollicular spaces were invaded by Hodgkin's disease. The Reed-Stemberg cells stained positively with CD15 and CD30 antibody in the immunohistochemical stain. An in situ hybridization study looking for EBV was negative in these R-S cells.
Female ; Humans

Trichorrhexis nodosa(TN) denotes small node-like swelling with a loss of cuticle of the hair shaft through which the hair readily fractures. The basic cause of TN is mechanical or chemical trauma, and a contributing factor is an inherent weakness of the hair shaft. We report a case of localized TN in a 37-year-old male. He had an ovoid hair patch with multiple small white-gray dotted and stubby hairs localized to the right occipital scalp. TN is known to be the commonest of all hair shaft anomalies (Price, 1975). However TN is rarely reported, and there have been only four reports in Korean dermatological literature, to our knowledge, which might be due to underdiagnosis of this disorder. We postulated that diagnostic difficulty lies in the discrepancy between terminology and gross morphological findings.
Adult ; Fibrinogen ; Hair ; Humans ; Male ; Scalp

BACKGROUND: Helicobacter pylori(H. pylori) infection is known to be strongly associated with varied dermatoses such as rosacea, vasculitic purpura, and Sweet's syndrome. Also, many antibiotics including amoxicillin, clarithromycin, and tetracycline have been used to ameliorate chronic urticaria. This recent knowledge posed the plausibility that H. pylori infection might be an underlying causative factor of chronic urticaria. OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to investigate the role of H. pylori infection in patients with chronic urticaria. METHODS: Sixty-five subjects with chronic urticaria were examined for H. pylori infection with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for IgG/M against H. pylori and rapid urease test(CLO test) for endoscopically biopsied gastric mucosa. Amoxicillin or clarithromycin combined with omeprazole as a therapy was administrated to the 44 patients with positive test results for 4 weeks. RESULTS: H. pylori infection was more frequently diagnosed in 44 of 65(67.7%) patients with chronic urticaria than in the control subjects(8.8%). After the completion of treatment for 4 weeks, specific IgG antibodies and a CLO test against H. pylori were negative in 28 of 38(73.7%) and 43 of 44(97.7%) patients respectively. At the post-treatment evaluation, 37 of 44(84.1%) patients with H. pylori-positive urticaria showed significant clinical remission of urticaria. CONCLUSION: Eradication of H. pylori in patients with chronic urticaria was accompanied by clinical remission of urtication. There is substantial evidence that unexplained causes of chronic urticaria may be associated with H. pylori infection.
Amoxicillin ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Antibodies ; Clarithromycin ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Gastric Mucosa ; Helicobacter pylori* ; Helicobacter* ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; Korea* ; Omeprazole ; Prevalence* ; Prospective Studies* ; Purpura ; Rosacea ; Skin Diseases ; Sweet Syndrome ; Tetracycline ; Urease ; Urticaria*

Among the precancerous lesions, dysplasia of the uterine cervix and adenoma of the colon have been widely studied in terms of genetic alterations. However, little has been performed regarding phenotypic alterations of the precancerous lesions. We investigated the relationship among cellular proliferation, clonality, immortality and histopathologic grading of the squamous epithelial lesions of the uterine cervix. Proliferation index (PI) was calculated based on the ratio of the epithelial cells positive for proliferating cell nuclear antigen to the total epithelial cells. Clonality was assayed by X-linked HUMARA polymorphism. For immortality assay, PCR-based TRAP (telomeric repeat amplification protocol) was done and telomerase processivity was calculated by comparison with the positive control. PI increased gradually as the lesions advanced from dysplasia to invasive carcinoma. Among informative case, all of the carcinoma in situ showed monoclonal pattern (7 of 7). Among invasive squamous cell carcinoma, 6 cases showed monoclonal pattern and 2 cases polyclonal pattern. TRAP reaction was positive in 92.6% (25 of 27) of dysplasia (high grade: 14 of 15; low grade: 11 of 12), 95.0% (19 of 20) of carcinoma in situ, 100% (9 of 9) of microinvasive carcinoma, and 92.9% (13 of 14) of invasive carcinoma. It was also positive in 12 of 12 samples of chronic cervicitis or squamous metaplasia near the lesions of dysplasia. There was no difference in TRAP positivity among the dysplasia, carcinoma in situ and invasive carcinoma, whereas telomerase processivity showed significant correlation. These results suggest that proliferative activity and telomerase processivity may be progressive events in oncogenesis, although telomerase activation may be an early event.
Adenoma ; Carcinogenesis ; Carcinoma in Situ ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Cell Proliferation ; Cervix Uteri ; Colon ; Epithelial Cells ; Female ; Metaplasia ; Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen ; Telomerase ; Uterine Cervicitis

Acquired ichthyosis is a rare condition and ususually occurs in adult patients with various systemic diseases and drugs that affect cholesterol metabolism. As a rule when the underlying disease goes into remission, the ichtyosis regress. Clinically and histopathologically it is similar to ichthyosis vulgaris. We report a 43-year-old man with acquired ichthyosis, who associated with diabetes mellitus, chronic renal failure and hypertension.
Adult ; Cholesterol ; Diabetes Mellitus* ; Humans ; Hypertension* ; Ichthyosis Vulgaris ; Ichthyosis* ; Kidney Failure, Chronic* ; Metabolism

In order to evaluate the effect of Q-switched YAG laser iridotomy to the intraocular pressure, we performed the Q-switched Nd-YAG laser iridotomy in 39 eyes of 28 patients with angle closure glaucoma. Postoperative difference of the intraocular pressure was 27.5 +/- 27.0mmHg and the intraocular pressure was reduced. After 2 months, 12 eyes had needed one kind of anti-glaucomatous medication, 7 eyes had needed no medication, 6 eyes had needed two medications and 1 eye had needed three medications. Postoperative complications were iris bleeding(10 eyes), transient pressure rising(9 eyes), focal corneal opacities(2 eyes) and closure of iridotomy(2 eyes). These result shows that laser iridotomy should be considered in the management of angle closure glaucoma.
Glaucoma, Angle-Closure ; Humans ; Intraocular Pressure ; Iris ; Lasers, Solid-State* ; Postoperative Complications