BACKGROUND: CD44 is a family of glycoproteins involved in cell to cell and cell to matrix interactions. Overexpression of CD44v6(variant exon 6) form has been reported in several malignant tumors such as stomach cancer, uterine cervical cancer, colorectal cancer, breast cancer and keratinocytic skin tumors, such as, basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. However, CD44 expression in cutaneous T cell lymphoma has not been investigated thoroughly. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to examine whether there is any difference in the expression of CD44s & CD44v6 between mycosis fungoides(MF), angiocentric T cell lymphoma, subcutaneous panniculitic T cell lymphoma, Ki lymphoma and unspecified peripheral T cell lymphoma. We also evaluated the statistical significance between the expression of CD44v6 and systemic involvement of the diseases. METHODS: Routine paraffin sections of formalin-fixed 33 tissues (11 MF, 8 angiocentric T cell lymphoma, 5 subcutaneous panniculitic T cell lymphoma, 2 Ki lymphoma, 1 unspecified peripheral T cell lymphoma, 2 psoriasis, 2 lichen planus, 2 erythema nodosum) were labeled with anti-CD44 monoclonal antibody using a avidin-biotin-peroxidase complex. Normal skin served as the negative control. RESULTS: 1. Eccrine glands, hair follicles and the epidermis, except the cornified layer, showed positive staining for CD44s. In inflammatory skin diseases, it showed positive staining for CD44s, however CD44v4/5 and CD44v6 stainings were negative. 2. All(4 out of 4) of the tumor stages of MF showed positive CD44s staining, and 3 out of 4 showed positive CD44v6 staining(p=0.024). However, none of them expressed CD44v4/5. 3. All 8 cases of angiocentric T cell lymphoma were positively stained for CD44s, but not for CD44v4/5. In contrast to other peripheral T cell lymphoma, CD44v6 was expressed in 3 out of 8 cases of angiocentric T cell lymphoma. In subcutaneous T cell lymphoma, only the CD44s was expressed, and Ki lymphoma was positively stained for CD44s and negatively stained for CD44v4/5 and CD44v6. 4. In CD44v6 positive angiocentric T cell lymphoma (3 out of 8) and CD44v6 positive tumor stages of MF (3 out of 4), 5 out of 6 patients had systemic involvement suggesting a statistical significance between CD44v6 expression and patient's systemic involvement(p=0.015). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that CD44v6 may serve as a useful prognostic marker in the tumor stage of mycosis fungoides and angiocentric T cell lymphomas.
Breast Neoplasms ; Carcinoma, Basal Cell ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; Eccrine Glands ; Epidermis ; Erythema ; Exons ; Glycoproteins ; Hair Follicle ; Humans ; Lichen Planus ; Lymphoma ; Lymphoma, T-Cell ; Lymphoma, T-Cell, Cutaneous* ; Lymphoma, T-Cell, Peripheral ; Mycosis Fungoides ; Paraffin ; Psoriasis ; Skin ; Skin Diseases ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms

The number of patients with tinea corporis diagnosed on the clinical findings and KOH examination was 1,709 during the five yea.rs between January 1976 and December 1980, representing l.5% of the total dermatologic out-patients of 105,267 examined at Chilgok Catholic Dermatological Clinic, Daegu, Korea. The annual number of patients with tinea corporis was 84 (0.47% of the total outpatients) in 1976,115 (0.6%) in 1977, and 263 (1.30%) in 1980, but the figure increased markedly in 1976 reaching 616 (2.51%) and 631 (2.89%) in 1980. Of the 1,709 patients, males numbered 793 and females 916. Although the age of peak incidence was in the third decade in both sexes, males outnumbered females slightly before age 19 and, as age advanced, female predominance became marked. The seasonal distribution of patients was interesting: in summer between June and September when the climate is very humid and hot, the incidence was markedly high. From the 1, 709 patients, 1,293 organisms composms of 6 species were isolated and identified. The species isolated were, in order of decreasing frequency, Trichophyton rubrum (622 organisms, 48. 1% of total organisms isolated), T. mentagrophytes (486 organisms, 36. 2%), Microsporum canis (147 organisms, 11. 4%), Epidermophyton floccosurn (29 organisms, 2.2%), M. gypseum (23 organisrns, l.8%) and T. ferrugineum (4 organisms, 0. 3%).
Climate ; Daegu ; Epidermophyton ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea ; Male ; Microsporum ; Outpatients ; Seasons ; Tinea* ; Trichophyton

This study was undertaken to evaluate the clinical usefulness of magnetic motor evoked potential (MEP) in the diagnosis of stroke and predicting the motor improvement following stroke. The cortical, cervical and lumbar stimulations were performed in the case of 24 healthy controls and 24 to a target muscle between after transcranial stimulation and after cervical or lumbar stimulation. There was no case showing no response in controls. But in 11 out of 24 ischemic patients, we could not get cortical MEP. Mean CMCT of abductor pollicis brevis muscle was not significantly different in controls and stroke patients in whom MEPs were recorded. There were significant differences between mean CMCT of normal controls and that of stroke patients showing MEPs in AH Muscle. MEP Results from testing the stroke patients were correlated with site of lesion, degree of motor weakness and motor improvement after 1 to 2 months. These results suggest that magnetic MEP is easy and useful in electrophysiological test of central motor pathway and is useful indicator for representing the motor weakness and predicting the motor outcome in acute ischemic stroke patients.
Diagnosis ; Evoked Potentials, Motor* ; Humans ; Stroke*

Hyperkeratosis of the nipple and areola is a rare condition. We report a case of hyperkeratosis of the nipple and areola occurrinp in man with no underlying endocrirop thy or synthetic estrogenic drug therapy. The patient was not associated with epidermal nevus orichthyosis and so fitted into the nevoid form of hyperkeratosis of the nipple and areola. The clinical appearance and histological findings of the lesion were the same as those reported before. He showed a slight improvement in the color and hyperkeratcsis of the nipple and areola with 6 months use of a topical keratolytic agent and corticosteroid crearn.
Drug Therapy ; Estrogens ; Humans ; Nevus ; Nipples*

Clinical characteristics of papular-purpuric gloves and socks syndrome consist of a purpuric erythema affecting the hands and feet in a gloves and stocking distribution. It is sometimes associated with fever and oral lesions. The disease is self-limiting and resolves within 1 to 2 weeks. Serological studies have shown that there is an association with parvovirus B19 infection in most patients affected by this syndrome. We report a case of gloves and socks syndrome in a 21-year-old female. She had a 4-day history of papular-purpuric eruptions of the hands and feet in a gloves-and-socks distribution. She also complained of fever(up to 39C) during the first 2 or 3 days of clinical onset. The oral mucosa was normal and there were no palpable lymph nodes. Laboratory and histopathological findings were non-specific. However, human parvovirus B19 DNA was detected in the serum by a polymerase chain reaction. Systemic manifestations were transient and disappeared within a few days, whereas the skin lesions resolved gradually over a period of 2 weeks.
DNA ; Erythema ; Female ; Fever ; Foot ; Hand ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; Mouth Mucosa ; Parvovirus ; Parvovirus B19, Human ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Skin ; Young Adult

Spindle cell lipoma was first described in 1975 by Enzinger and Harvey as a variant of lipomas. Histopathological findings show the lipomatous tissue to be replaced by a mixture of uniform spindle cells and mature fat cells closely associated with a mucoid matrix and a varying number of collagen fibers. Immunohistochemical staining is reported to give assistance in the differential diagnosis af spindle cell lipoma from other fibrous or neural tumors. Also, it can be used to investigate the origin of the spindle cells. We report a case of spindle cell lipoma in a 41-year-old female. She had a solitary, normal skin colored, bean sized, subcutaneous mass on the forearm. Most of the spindle cells were strongly positive for vimentin, CD34 and NSE, but negative for actin, factor VIII, S-100 protein and neuro- filaments. The tumor was excised. No recurrence was recognized in a 10 month follow up period.
Actins ; Adipocytes ; Adult ; Collagen ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Factor VIII ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Forearm ; Humans ; Lipoma* ; Recurrence ; S100 Proteins ; Skin ; Vimentin

We report a case of atypical eruption due to chemotherapeutic agent in a 60-year-old man who presented with asymptomatic, erythematous, 0.5cm in diameter, confluent, and elevated papules and plaques confined to the face. The patient was previously diagnosed with small cell carcinoma of the lung with liver metastasis. Two months after the diagnosis, a first course of chemotherapy including etoposide was started. Five days after starting the chemotherapy, the patient developed a facial eruption. Histopathologic examination demonstrated increased epidermal mitotic figures, cells in metaphase arrest, basal cell layer hyperpigmentation, prominent dyskeratosis, and squamous atypia. The most distinctive histologic feature was the presence of starburst cells, which are markedly enlarged pale staining keratinocytes containing small basophilic fragments of nuclear debris haphazardly scattered throughout the cytoplasm in a starburst pattern.
Basophils ; Carcinoma, Small Cell ; Cytoplasm ; Diagnosis ; Drug Therapy ; Etoposide ; Humans ; Hyperpigmentation ; Keratinocytes ; Liver ; Lung ; Metaphase ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Metastasis

Mucosal melanosis such as labial and vulvar pigmented macules is common as well as cosmetically disfiguring benign pigmented lesions. Until the recent development of laser treatments, it was impossible to remove a mucosal melanosis without leaving a scar. The Q-switched Alexandrite laser, which has a wavelength of 755 nm and a short pulse duration of 100 nanoseconds, has been used for the treatment of dermal pigmentary disorders such as Nevus of Ota and tattoos. We treated two patients with labial melanosis by the Q-switched Alexandrite laser using a 2,4 mm spot size and energy fluences of 4.5 to 7 J/cm2. Their mucosal pigmentations were completely cleared without adverse sequelae or recurrence after one session of the treatment. We report that Q-switched Alexandrite laser might be a highly effective and safe modality for the treatment of mucosal melanosis and suggest it as the treatment of choice.
Cicatrix ; Humans ; Lasers, Solid-State* ; Lip* ; Melanosis* ; Nevus of Ota ; Pigmentation ; Recurrence

BACKGROUND: The bcl-2 is an oncogene involved in tumorigenesis by blocking apoptosis, or programmed cell death and over-expression of bcl-2 protein has been reported in several malignant tumors such as lung cancer, basal cell carcinoma, breast cancer and malignant melanoma. However, there have been only a few studies about bcl-2 expression of cutaneous T cell lymphoma. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine whether there is any difference in expression of bcl-2 between mycosis fungoides(MF), angiocentric T cell lymphoma, angioimmunoblastic T cell lymphoma, subcutaneous T cell lymphoma and anaplastic large cell lymphoma. We also evaluated the statistical significance between expression of bcl-2 and the prognosis of the diseases. METHODS: Routine paraffin sections of formalin-fixed 36 tissues (14 MF, 7 angiocentric T cell lymphoma, 5 subcutaneous panniculitic T cell lymphoma, 2 anaplastic large cell lymphoma, 1 angioimmunoblastic T cell lymphoma, 1 unspecified peripheral T cell lymphoma, 2 small plaque parapsoriasis, 2 psoriasis and 2 lichen planus) were labelled with anti-bcl-2 monoclonal antibody using an avidin- biotin-peroxidase complex. Normal skin for bcl-2 served as negative controls. RESULTS: The results were as follows. l. All cases of benign inflammatory diseases, small plaque parapsoriasis and patch stages of MF showed positive staining for bcl-2. Therefore, there were no differences in expression of bcl-2 among these diseases. 2. In the plaque and tumor stages of mycosis fungoides, statistically significancant differences in bcl-2 expression were not found during disease progression. 3. bcl-2 expression in peripheral T cell lymphoma (five in seven cases of angiocentric T cell lymphoma showed positive staining but all other peripheral T cell lymphoma was negative) decreased significantly (p<0.05) than that of MF. 4. No statistical significance was found between bcl-2 expression and prognosis of cutaneous lymphoma (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the loss of bcl-2 expression may play a significant role in progression of cutaneous T cell lymphoma except in MF and angiocentric T cell lymphoma.
Apoptosis ; Breast Neoplasms ; Carcinogenesis ; Carcinoma, Basal Cell ; Cell Death ; Disease Progression ; Lichens ; Lung Neoplasms ; Lymphoma ; Lymphoma, Large-Cell, Anaplastic ; Lymphoma, T-Cell ; Lymphoma, T-Cell, Cutaneous* ; Lymphoma, T-Cell, Peripheral ; Melanoma ; Mycosis Fungoides ; Oncogenes ; Paraffin ; Parapsoriasis ; Prognosis ; Psoriasis ; Skin

BACKGROUND: We assessed the effectiveness of arthroscopic capsular release for the treatment of adhesive capsulitis. Further, we tried to ascertain the clinical benefits, if any, of pancapsular release over selective capsular release, where the two differ by performing or not performing a posterior capsular release, respectively. METHODS: Thirty-five consecutive patients with either primary or secondary adhesive capsulitis who failed conservative treatment for more than 6 months were enrolled in the study. A total of 16 patients allocated in group 1 received a pancapsular release that comprises the release of the rotator interval, anteroinferior capsular, and the posterior capsular release, whereas 19 patients in group 2 received a selective capsular release that comprises only the release of the rotator interval release and anteroinferior capsular release. The clinical outcomes, visual analogue scale (VAS) score, Constant score, and range of motion, were assessed preoperative and postoperatively. RESULTS: In both groups, the preoperative VAS score, Constant score, and ROM showed a significant improvement by the 6-month follow-up. We found that the immediate postoperative internal rotation was significantly higher in group 1 than group 2. Despite significant differences seen between the two groups at the initial postoperative period, there were no significant differences in Constant score, VAS score, and the ROM at all the subsequent follow-ups between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Arthroscopic capsular release for the treatment of adhesive capsulitis is very effective. However, pancapsular release did not show any advantage over selective capsular release in terms of overall clinical outcome.
Bursitis* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Joint Capsule Release* ; Postoperative Period ; Range of Motion, Articular