Subepidermal calcified nodule(SCN) is a form of calcinosis cutis which is usually present as a single small, raised, hard nodule with verrucous surface. A 13-year-old girl presented with a 10-month history of a ricegrain-sized, hard, yellowish white papule on both upper eyelids. The lesions were asymptomatic and had increased slowly in size. An excisional biopsy specimen of the left upper eyelid showed acanthosis and narrow pointed rete ridges of the epidermis, and closely aggregated deposition of basophilic material in the uppermost dermis. The material in the dermis did not stain with von Kossa. It was confirmed as calcium deposition by staining with alizarin red S which is far more specific for calcium than the von Kossa stain.
Adolescent ; Basophils ; Biopsy ; Calcinosis ; Calcium ; Dermis ; Epidermis ; Eyelids ; Female ; Humans

BACKGROUND: Nail lacquer strengthens and protects the nail plate by preventing excess loss of moisture and providing a hard surface. On the other hand, it may produce allergic contact and irritant dermatitis, paronychial and nail bed inflammation and infection, dystrophic nails and onycholysis. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of study was to investigate the effect of the nail lacquer on the barrier function of the nail. METHODS: The study populatian consisted of 25 healthy young subjects who had not applied the nail lacquer to the nail for the last 3 months. Nail lacquer was applied to the left thumb and middle fingernail for 6 weeks and then removed by acetone. Transonychial water loss(TOWL) of the treated left fingernails and the untreated corresponding right fingernails was measured with an Evaporimeter. Lipids of the nails were extracted from distal nail cuttings and analysed by thin layer chromatography. RESULTS: 1. Before application of the nail lacquer, there was no difference in TOWL between the left and right fingernails while the TOWL of the thumb nail was higher than that of the middle fingernail with a statistical significance(p<0.05). 2. The TOWL of the left fingernails, measured 1 day, 2, 4 and 6 weeks after application of the nail lacquer, was lower than that of the untreated right fingernails with a statistical significance( p< 0.05). 3. The TOWL of the left fingernails, measured 1, 3 and 7 days after removal of the nail lacquer by acetone, was not different statistically from that of the untreated right fingernails. 4. Lipid analysis demonstratcd that the cholesterol content was higher in the left fingernail which had been covered with nail lacquer than in the untreated right fingernail. 5. There was no clinical adverse effect observed during application of the nail lacquer or after removal of it. CONCLUSION: According to the results of the study, nail lacquer has some occlusive effects on transonychial water evaporatior . Because increased cholesterol content may be due to perturbations of barrier function , further studies of the effect of the nail lacquer on the barrier function of the nail will be needed.
Acetone ; Cholesterol ; Chromatography, Thin Layer ; Dermatitis, Irritant ; Hand ; Inflammation ; Lacquer* ; Nails ; Onycholysis ; Thumb

BACKGROUND: Seborrheic dermatitis is a very common chronic inflammatory disease. Previous studies suggested that, Pityrosporum, lipophilic fungi, may play an important role in the pathogenesis of the disease. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the disease clinically and mycologically for better understanding of the pathogenesis. METHODS: Two hundred and one new patient.s with seborrheic dermatitis of the scalp and 67 norrnal subjects were obs!,rved clinically by the dermatologist and studied stat,istically by questionnaires. A mycologic study of Pityrosporum was also performed by direct smear. RESULTS: Among a total of 201 patients wit,h seborrheic dermatitis, 72.6% had pityriasis sicca, 10.5% had pityr iasis steartoides and 16.9% had inflammatory seborrheic dermatitis. On clinical grading by the Kligman.. scale, grade III(slightly scaling) was the most common in the patients and 52.6% of the norma. subjects were below grade II (no scaling). Spores of Pityrosporum were observed in 76.7% of the patients and 91.5% of the normal subjects. The incidence of Pityrosporum was lower particularly in t,he patients with inflammatory seborrheic dermatitis t,han in other pa~tients groups. CONCLUSION: According to the results of the study, it, is difficult to conclude that Pityrosporum is a main causative ager t of seborrheic dermatitis. In addition, it is thought t.hat further studies of the role of Pityrosporum in seborrheic dermatitis are needed.
Dermatitis, Seborrheic* ; Fungi ; Humans ; Incidence ; Malassezia* ; Pityriasis ; Scalp* ; Spores ; Surveys and Questionnaires

BACKGROUND: Seborrheic dermatitis is a very common chronic inflammatory disease. Previous studies suggested that, Pityrosporum, lipophilic fungi, may play an important role in the pathogenesis of the disease. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the disease clinically and mycologically for better understanding of the pathogenesis. METHODS: Two hundred and one new patient.s with seborrheic dermatitis of the scalp and 67 norrnal subjects were obs!,rved clinically by the dermatologist and studied stat,istically by questionnaires. A mycologic study of Pityrosporum was also performed by direct smear. RESULTS: Among a total of 201 patients wit,h seborrheic dermatitis, 72.6% had pityriasis sicca, 10.5% had pityr iasis steartoides and 16.9% had inflammatory seborrheic dermatitis. On clinical grading by the Kligman.. scale, grade III(slightly scaling) was the most common in the patients and 52.6% of the norma. subjects were below grade II (no scaling). Spores of Pityrosporum were observed in 76.7% of the patients and 91.5% of the normal subjects. The incidence of Pityrosporum was lower particularly in t,he patients with inflammatory seborrheic dermatitis t,han in other pa~tients groups. CONCLUSION: According to the results of the study, it, is difficult to conclude that Pityrosporum is a main causative ager t of seborrheic dermatitis. In addition, it is thought t.hat further studies of the role of Pityrosporum in seborrheic dermatitis are needed.
Dermatitis, Seborrheic* ; Fungi ; Humans ; Incidence ; Malassezia* ; Pityriasis ; Scalp* ; Spores ; Surveys and Questionnaires

We report a case of cutaneous horn originated frorn condyloma acuminata in a 25 year-old man. The patient showed yellowish brown hyperkeratotic masses on the prepuce, coronal sulcus and multiple asymptomatic pinkish cauliflower-like projections in both inguinal folds and perianal area. Skin biopsies were taken from the base of the penile lesions andinguinal, perianal area exhibited marked hyperkeratosis and parakeratosis in addition to the typical findings of condylorna acuminaturn. In situ hybridization technique for Human papilloma virus(HPV) showed positive reaction to HPV 11. All lesions were removed by surgical excision, electrocauterization and podophyllin application, but condyloma acuminatum recurred several times thereafter.
Adult ; Animals ; Biopsy ; Horns* ; Human papillomavirus 11 ; Humans ; In Situ Hybridization ; Papilloma ; Parakeratosis ; Podophyllin ; Skin

Background: To investigate the effect of parental social class on cancer mortality in children under 5 in Korea, two birth cohorts were constructed by linking national birth data to under-5 death data from the Statistics Korea for 1995–1999 (3,323,613 births) and 2010–2014 (2,297,876 births). Methods: The Cox proportional hazards model adjusted for covariates was used in this study. Results: Social inequalities of under-5 cancer mortality risk in paternal education and paternal employment status were greater in 2010–2014 than in 1995–1999. The gap of hazard ratio (HR) of under-5 cancer mortality between lower (high school or below) and higher (university or higher) paternal education increased from 1.23 (95% confidence interval, 1.041.46) in 1995–1999 to 1.45 (1.11–1.97) in 2010–2014; the gap of HR between parents engaged in manual work and non-manual work increased from 1.32 (1.12–1.56) in 1995–1999 to 1.45 (1.12–1.89) in 2010–2014 for fathers, and from 1.18 (0.7–1.98) to 1.69 (1.03–2.79) for mothers. When the parental social class was lower, the risk of under-5 cancer mortality was higher in not only adverse but normal births. Conclusion Social inequalities must be addressed to reduce the disparity in cancer mortality of children under 5 years old.

Purpose: This study aims to explore income-based disparities in breast cancer (BC) incidence and stage at presentation in a national population in South Korea, where a National Cancer Screening Program (NCSP) has been implemented. Methods: In 2007, new patients with BC were identified using the Korea Central Cancer Registry database. We calculated adjusted odds ratios (aORs) to evaluate the association between individual income level and the risk of distant stage BC at presentation, adjusting for women’s age, body mass index, disability registration, employment, region of residence, and year of diagnosis. Results: The cumulative age-standardized incidence of BC in the 11 years was highest among women in the richest quintile (2,040 per 100,000 women for 11 years), whereas the proportion of distant stage at presentation was the highest (10.2%) among the medical aid beneficiaries. The aOR of distant stage diagnosis at presentation was higher for lowerincome quintiles, and the risk was the highest in the medical aid beneficiaries (aOR, 2.25;95% confidence interval, 1.97–2.58) than in the richest quintile. The income-based gradient in aORs for distant stage did not differ between younger (< 40 years) and older patients. Conclusion A higher risk of distant stage BC at presentation among the lower-income and medical aid groups in the context of a NCSP was observed. A more focused approach toward women in lower-income groups is necessary to alleviate the disparity in the risk of advanced BC.

OBJECTIVES: To describe the distributions of blood pressure level and risk group, and the current state of life style modification in the population of a large factory. METHODS: We surveyed 1,088 workers in a large factory from June 2002 to August 2002. Information related to hypertension was collected through a questionnaire and medical examination. We classified the blood pressure level and risk group using JNC-VI criteria, and the current state of life style modification and medication according to the blood pressure level in the entire study population. REULTS: The prevalence of hypertension was 30.1% in all workers. The distribution of blood pressure level was 656 (60.3%) in normal stage, 160 (14.7%) in high normal stage, 190 (17.5%) in stage 1, 67 (6.1%) in stage 2, and 15 (1.4%) in stage 3. The numbers of workers in risk groups A, B and C were 296 (27.2%), 690 (63.4%) and 102 (9.4%), respectively. Among all workers, 432 (39.7%) needed to modify their lifestyle; 106 of whom (24.5%) needed to go on hypertensive drug medication. Overweight subjects were more common in stage 2 than in other stages (p=0.02). The numbers of smokers and low-exercisers were signigicantly lower in the higher blood pressure group than the lower blood pressure group (p<0.01). Alcoholic drinking was evenly distributed in all blood pressure level. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of hypertension was 30.1% in all workers. The most common stage of blood pressure level was normal, followed by stage 1, high normal stage, stage 2, stage 3. The number of subjects in risk group B was more than that in the other risk groups. We recommend total worker education and the practice of lifestyle modification.
Alcoholics ; Blood Pressure* ; Drinking ; Education ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Life Style* ; Male* ; Overweight ; Prevalence ; Questionnaires

OBJECTIVES: We report an outbreak of skin disorder in semiconductor packing workers. Through an evaluation of the degree of work-relatedness in this case, we aim to develop a method to overcome such health problems in the workplace. METHODS: A questionnaire investigating the job characteristics and skin symptoms was administered to 51 packing workers working in a semiconductor production factory and 49 questionnaires returned. The 16 subjects in the exposure group and 12 in the non-exposure group underwent doctor's examination and patch test. Two of 28 subjects were excluded in patch test. We investigated the work environment and carbon fiber level which was the potential causative agent. RESULTS: Forty-five (91.8%) of 49 packing workers complained of itching and stinging. Three of 14(21.4%) in the exposure group and 3 of 11 (27.3%) in the non-exposure group were positive at 48hr reading of patch test for carbon fiber and carbon fiber paper. None was positive at 96hr reading of patch test. Prominent carbon fibers were microscopically observed on the surface of the packing box and the fiber diameter, measured up to 6.0~7.5 micrometer, was likely to induce skin irritation to skin. To avoid worker's direct contact with to carbon fiber, carbon fiber paper box was substituted by a wax coated carbon fiber paper box was substituted for the original carbon fiber paper box, which caused and the workers' symptoms to of workers disappeared. CONCLUSION: The probably cause of this outbreak of skin disorder was mild irritant contact dermatitis for carbon fiber. To prevent outbreaks of such occupational skin disorder like this, workers should avoid direct contact with carbon fiber.
Bites and Stings ; Carbon* ; Dermatitis, Contact ; Disease Outbreaks ; Patch Tests ; Pruritus ; Questionnaires ; Semiconductors ; Skin*

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the significant factors for risk estimate of aspiration and to evaluate the efficiency of the dysphagia assessment tool. METHODS: A consecutive series of 210 stroke patients with aspiration symptoms such as cough and dysphagia who had soft or regular diet without tube feeding were examined. The dysphagia assessment tool for aspiration was compared with videofluoroscopy using Classification and Regression Tree (CART) analysis. RESULTS: In CART analysis, of 34 factors, the significant factors for estimating risk of aspiration were cough during swallowing, oral stasis, facial symmetry, salivary drooling, and cough after swallowing. The risk estimate error of the revised dysphagia assessment tool was 25.2%, equal to that of videofluoroscopy. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that the dysphagia assessment tool developed and examined in this study was potentially useful in the clinical field and the primary risk estimating factor was cough during swallowing. Oral stasis, facial symmetry, salivary drooling, cough after swallowing were other significant factors, and based on these results, the dysphagia assessment tool for aspiration was revised and complemented.
Adult ; Aged ; Cough ; Deglutition ; Deglutition Disorders/complications/*diagnosis ; Facial Asymmetry ; Female ; Fluoroscopy/methods ; Humans ; Inhalation ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Risk Assessment ; Stroke/*complications/radiography/therapy