Adult ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Humans ; Skin ; pathology ; Skin Neoplasms ; pathology ; Skin Ulcer ; pathology ; Tibia

A 32-year-old woman had a recurrent shallow ulcer on the flank. A biopsy specimen showed thromboses in the dermal vessels and she was found to have circulating antiphospholipid antibody with no associated systemic disease. A clean ulcer developed on the flank of a patient with primary antiphospholipid syndrome is considered to be a rarely encountered/unusual presentation of this syndrome.
Adult ; Antiphospholipid Syndrome/pathology ; Antiphospholipid Syndrome/complications* ; Case Report ; Female ; Human ; Skin Ulcer/pathology ; Skin Ulcer/complications*

The diabetic ulceration is not uncommon, and becomes refractory, as the skin in a diabetic patient is relatively thin as well as hypoesthetic and less sensitive to temperature. As there are already preexisting histological and cellular derangement in the skin, healing of the skin injury is difficult, thus resulting in an intractable ulceration. When diabetes is not controlled, the skin contents of sugar and advanced glycation end product accumulate, invoking cellular deformation and accumulation of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP), resulting in an imbalance between MMP and its inhibitors, malfunction of growth factors, and inflammatory reaction. These processes lead to obvious skin thinning, denaturation of connective tissues, thickening of vascular basal membrane, and neuropathy, etc. These pathological alterations could be recognized as "covert disorder" of skin in diabetic patients and may be underlying disorders in producing indolent diabetic ulcers.
Animals ; Diabetes Mellitus ; metabolism ; pathology ; Glycation End Products, Advanced ; metabolism ; Rats ; Skin ; metabolism ; pathology ; Skin Ulcer ; pathology ; Wound Healing

Marjolin's ulcer is a rare malignancy arising from various forms of scars, mainly an old scar resulted from burn. The second most common origin is malignant degeneration arising from tissue within osteomyelitis fistulae. Not uncommonly, the lesions may arise secondary to ulcers due to venous insufficiency or pressure sores. The pathology of the majority of Marjolin's ulcer is a well-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma. The exact reason for an ulcer which undergoes a malignant transformation is unknown. The pathologic diagnosis is the gold standard. Surgery remains the preferred treatment after diagnosis is reached. Wide surgical excision with margins up to 2-3 cm has been suggested. The necessity of whether lymphatic dissection should be executed, or radiotherapy and chemotherapy following surgery is still in dispute. This article deals with the etiology of Marjolin's ulcer and its pathological grading, diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, and prevention, with a hope to provide some useful clinical information.
Burns ; complications ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; etiology ; pathology ; surgery ; Cicatrix ; Humans ; Lymphatic Vessels ; Pressure Ulcer ; pathology ; surgery ; Prognosis ; Skin Neoplasms ; etiology ; pathology ; surgery ; Skin Ulcer

Behcet's disease is particularly prevalent in "Silk Route" populations, but it has a global distribution. The diagnosis of the disease is based on clinical criteria as there is as yet no pathognomonic test, and mucocutaneous lesions, which figure prominently in the presentation and diagnosis, may be considered the diagnostic hallmarks. Among the internationally accepted criteria, painful oral and genital ulcers, cutaneous vasculitic lesions and reactivity of the skin to needle prick or injection (the pathergy reaction) are considered hallmarks of Behcet's disease, and often precede other manifestations. Their recognition may permit earlier diagnosis and treatment, with salutary results. This paper describes the various lesions that constitute the syndrome and focuses on those that may be considered characteristic.
Behcet Syndrome/drug therapy/*pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Oral Ulcer/drug therapy/pathology ; Skin Ulcer/drug therapy/pathology ; Thrombophlebitis/drug therapy/pathology

BACKGROUND: Cutaneous manifestations of vasculitis can be seen as pleomorphic lesions; purpura, erythema, nodule, bulla, ulcer and so on. In cases of polyarteritis nodosa (PAN), cutaneous presentations of small artery pathology may be seen in about one fourth among those patients with systemic form of PAN, and in all cases of cutaneous form subset. OBJECTIVE: To examine the pattern or morphology of cutaneous lesions found in the skin (especially on the lower legs) among Korean patients with cutaneous form of PAN. Patients AND METHODS: Eight patients with diagnosis-confirmed cases of cutaneous PAN were examined regarding the patterns of cutaneous lesions, as well as possible local symptoms, distributions, duration, and any positive findings in laboratory examinations and systemic review. RESULTS: Clinical patterns of cutaneous lesions observed in the lesional areas among those 8 patients were mottled or atypical reticular erythema (5 cases), subcutaneous nodules (3 cases), scattered erythematous patch (3 cases), ecchymotic erythematous patch (3 cases) and superficial ulcer (1 case). Tenderness was detected at the nodular lesions; predilection site were shin and calf areas; a few laboratory abnormalities and systemic symptoms were found regardless of the duration of skin lesions. CONCLUSION: Common clinical patterns of cutaneous lesion recognized with 8 patients of cutaneous PAN were mottled/atypical reticular erythemas, subcutaneous nodules, erythematous/ecchymotic patches, and these in all cases were seen at the lower legs. In patients with each different clinical presentation, there were no relevancies between the duration and severity of the disease.
Arteries ; Erythema ; Humans ; Leg* ; Pathology ; Polyarteritis Nodosa* ; Purpura ; Skin ; Ulcer ; Vasculitis

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is a multifunctional cytokine that is related to many diseases. HGF mainly contributes to cell migration,proliferation,and survival and regulates vascular angiogenesis,matrix deposition,and degradation of wound healing. HGF also promotes wound reepithelialization and reduces scar formation. This review article summarizes the role of HGF in wound repair and the relationship between HGF and other growth factors,especially when applied for the clinical treatment of chronic skin ulcers.
Cell Movement ; Cell Proliferation ; Hepatocyte Growth Factor ; physiology ; Humans ; Skin Ulcer ; pathology ; Wound Healing

Humans ; Ulcer/pathology* ; Herpesvirus 4, Human ; Epstein-Barr Virus Infections ; Skin Diseases

Humans ; Ulcer/pathology* ; Herpesvirus 4, Human ; Epstein-Barr Virus Infections ; Skin Diseases

There have been increasing interests of diabetes in the realm of plastic surgery due to problems like foot ulcer as a complication, delayed wound healing or higher failure rates of flap surgery. Main pathology in diabetes is microvascular compromise as well as metabolic derangements. The disturbance in microvascular circulation results in ischemic environments in the body and acts as a main factor that determines the limit of reconstructive or aesthetic plastic surgery. A useful method to overcome such problems is the use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy, which is known to be effective in the treatment of ischemic skin ulcer or osteoradionecrosis. However, there have been few studies on the survival of diabetic random skin flap or the effects of hyperbaric oxygenation directed to increase survival of such flap. In our study, we supposed that the survival of diabetic random skin flap was diminished owing to compromised microvascular pathology and blood rheology, and metabolic derangements, so we hypothesized that hyperbaric oxygen therapy has both reversible and irreversible effects on the survival of ischemic random skin flap in Streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Increase of local transcutaneous oxygen concentration, O2 affinity in blood and dysmorphogenesis of red blood cells are reversible and relatively short-term effects and promotion of neoangiogenesis is irreversible or long-term effects. We intended to confirm that hyperbaric rats and to compare the effects between preoperative and postoperative hyperbaric oxygenation on the survival of such flap. And we expect the additional effects of hyperbaric oxygenation on metabolism in diabetic rat, such as lowering the blood glucose level and solving the arrested weight gain. We divided Streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats into three groups: the first was non-treatment diabetic group, the second was preoperative hyperbaric oxygen treated diabetic group(100% O2, 2 atm, 90min, 15sessions, twice a day), and the third was postoperative hyperbaric oxygen treated group(100% O2, 2atm, 90min, 15sessions, twice a day). After elevation of random skin flap on dorsum of diabetic rats, we evaluated the extent of flap survival by measuring the necrotic areas at 3rd, 7th, 10th, and 13th postoperative days. At that time, we intended to evaluate both effects on flap survival by preoperative and postoperative hyperbaric oxygen therapy. As a result, flap survival of non-treated diabetic group was 41% at 13th postoperative days. In diabetic groups with preoperative and postoperative hyperbaric oxygen therapy, flap survival were increased to 64.6% and 62.4% respectively. Diabetic groups with hyperbaric oxygen therapy have a tendency of meaningful decrement in blood glucose level. However, there were no meaningful differences between preoperative and postoperative hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has no effective correlations with body weight changes. We conclude that hyperbaric oxygen therapy has some useful effects on the survival of diabetic random skin flap.
Animals ; Blood Glucose ; Body Weight Changes ; Erythrocytes ; Foot Ulcer ; Hyperbaric Oxygenation* ; Metabolism ; Osteoradionecrosis ; Oxygen ; Pathology ; Rats* ; Rheology ; Skin Ulcer ; Skin* ; Surgery, Plastic ; Weight Gain ; Wound Healing