We rep a case of vulvar syringoma in a 32-year-old woman who had pruritus vulvae for 2 years. An examination of both the labia major revealed slightly thickened hyperpigmented or hypopigmented patches without yellow papules. A skin punch biopsy revealed characteristic histological findings of syringoma. Syringoma of the vulva is a rare disorder and is usually asymptomatic. Five cases of vulvar syringoma preriously reported in the Korean literature all had asymptomatic yellow or brown colored papules, but this case presented here was clinically considered as pruritus vulvae.
Adult ; Biopsy ; Female ; Humans ; Pruritus Vulvae* ; Pruritus* ; Skin ; Syringoma* ; Vulva

No abstract available.
Humans ; Irritable Bowel Syndrome*

BACKGROUND: Stellate ganglion block, which is one of the effective therapeutic tools for treating herpes zoster has been advocated by many investigators. However its efficacy is controversial at present. OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to examine the role of stellate ganglion block in the prevention of postherpetic neuralgia and relationships between the time of this treatment and the outbreak of postherpetic neuralgia. METHODS: Twenty patients over the age of fifty with herpes zoster were included in this study. Before treatment, we randomly divided patients into two groups, A and B. Group A was treated with stellate ganglion block and acyclovir and group B was treated with acyclovir alone. Also we subdivided each group by starting treatment time into group 1 and 2. Group 1 was defined as the patients who began treatment within 2 weeks of the onset of the skin lesion. We observed the severity of pain and the incidence of postherpetic neuralgia according to each group.
Acyclovir ; Herpes Zoster* ; Humans ; Incidence ; Neuralgia, Postherpetic ; Research Personnel ; Skin ; Stellate Ganglion*

No abstract available.
Occupations*

BACKGROUND: The nature of operation alters the volume of distribution at steady state (Vdss) of drug. The hepatic extraction ratio of midazolam (0.3~0.7) could be influenced by hepatic blood flow (HBF), and hepatic enzyme activity. The pharmacokinetics of intravenous midazolam were determined in patients undergoing lung surgery. METHODS: Midazolam, 0.2 mg/kg, was administered to five patients undergoing lung surgery at 30 minutes after induction of anesthesia. Anesthesia was maintained with O2-enflurane for one lung ventilation. Blood samples from artery were drawn at increasing intervals for 12 h. Plasma midazolam concentrations were measured by gas chromatography. Computer simulations of the times required for 20%, 50%, and 80% decreases in midazolam concentrations were performed. RESULTS: A three compartment model best described the concentration versus time data. The volume of the central compartment (Vc) and volume of distribution at steady state (Vdss) were 4.3 2.8 l and 59.9 20.1 l, respectively. The elimination half-life was 3.4 2.2 h. Simulations indicate that under all the situations, the concentrations would decrease more rapidly in our patients in spite of similar Vdss and elimination half-life of patients undergoing minor gynecological surgery. CONCLUSION: The elimination half-life was in the range of previously reported values. The shorter recovery time is apparently due to relatively faster redistrubution, and relatively greater capacity for redistribution.
Anesthesia ; Arteries ; Chromatography, Gas ; Computer Simulation ; Female ; Gynecologic Surgical Procedures ; Half-Life ; Humans ; Lung* ; Midazolam* ; One-Lung Ventilation ; Pharmacokinetics* ; Plasma

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to develop the decision tree models to classify the characteristics of those who had not undergone the health screening tests provided by the National Health Insurance Corporation. METHODS: Total of 5,102,761 subjects of health screening services in the year of 2002 was used. The data was divided into two data-sets (disease VS. non-disease group). The target variable was whether they took the health screening services. The number of input variables was 25 in total. RESULTS: The decision trees were classified into fourteen different types of non-examinees in the non-disease group and nineteen in the disease group. The ROC curve areas in the non-disease and disease groups were .761 and .714, respectively. CONCLUSION: The different types of non-examinees classified by the decision tree models would facilitate the foundation for the further analysis of individual characteristics and the effective health screening service management in future.
Data Mining ; Decision Trees* ; Mass Screening* ; National Health Programs ; ROC Curve

Lichen aureus is regarded as an uncommon variant of the pigmented purpuric dermatosis and resistant to treatment. Recently several authors reported the PUVA therapy to be effective in the pigmented purpuric dermatosis, but there was no report that the PUVA therapy was tried to the lichen aureus. We tried topical PUVA therapy on a 54-year-old male with bilateral lichen aureus. After 23 times of topical PUVA therapy, the lesion improved markedly. This report may provide a new method of treatment for lichen aureus.
Humans ; Lichens* ; Male ; Middle Aged ; PUVA Therapy* ; Skin Diseases

We treated a case of extramammary Paget's disease that affected the scalp of a 45-year-old female. It is extremely rare that the disease arises in areas other than the anogenital region and the axillae. The lesion was a round erythematous oozing crusted hairless patch. Histopathologically, many pagetoid cells were found within the epidermis and dermis. The cytoplasms of these cells stained with alcian blue at pH 2.5, CEA, EMA and low-molecular-weight-cytokeratin. The patient underwent a wide local excision. We used a mapping technique to reveal the distribution of microscopically involved lesions.
Alcian Blue ; Axilla ; Cytoplasm ; Dermis ; Epidermis ; Female ; Humans ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Middle Aged ; Paget Disease, Extramammary* ; Scalp*

No abstract available.
Asphyxia* ; Brain Stem* ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn* ; Parturition*

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: The success of implants depends on intimate and direct contact of implant material on bone tissue and on functional relationship with soft tissue contact. Creation and maintenance of osseointegration depend on the understanding of the tissue's healing, repairing, and remodeling capacity and these capacities rely on cellular behavior. Altering the surface properties can modify cellular responses such as cell adhesion, cell motility, bone deposition. Therefore, various implant surface treatment methods are being developed for the improved bone cell responses. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the responses of osteoblast-like cells to surface- modified titanium. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The experiment was composed of four groups. Group 1 represented the electropolished surface. Group 2 surfaces were machined surface. Group 3 and Group 4 were anodized surfaces. Group 3 had low roughness and Group 4 had high roughness. Physicochemical properties and microstructures of the d iscs were examined and the responses of osteoblast-like cells to the discs were investigated. The microtopography was observed by SEM. The roughness was measured by three-dimension roughness measuring system. The microstructure was analyzed by XRD, AES. To evaluate cell responses to modified titanium surfaces, osteoblasts isolated from calvaria of neonatal rat were cultured. Cell count, morphology, total protein measurement and alkaline phosphatase activities of the cultures were examined. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The results were as follows 1. The four groups showed specific microtopography respectively. Anodized group showed grain structure with micropores. 2. Surface roughness values were, from the lowest to the highest, electropolished group, machined group, low roughness anodized group, and high roughness anodized group. 3. Highly roughened anodized group was found to have increased surface oxide thickness and surface crystallinity. 4. The morphology of cells, flattened or spherical, were different from ach other. In the electropolished group and machined group, the cells were almost flattened. In two anodized groups, some cells were spherical and other cells were flattened. And the 14 day culture cells of all of the groups were nearly flattened due to confluency. 5. The number of attached cells was highest in low roughness anodized group. And the machined group had significantly lower cell count than any other groups(P<.05). 6. Total protein contents showed no difference among groups. 7. The level of alkaline phosphatase activities was higher in the anodized groups than electropolished and machined groups(P<.05).
Alkaline Phosphatase ; Animals ; Bone and Bones ; Cell Adhesion ; Cell Count ; Cell Movement ; Edible Grain ; Crystallins ; Osseointegration ; Osteoblasts ; Rats ; Skull ; Surface Properties ; Titanium*