BACKGROUND: Suction auto epidermal graft for the treatment of stable vitiligo has become popular clinically. In general, depigmented epidermis is removed by liquid nitrogen freezing for preparation of the recipient site. There have been some problems with the nitrogen freezing method, uneven repigmentation, appearance of Koebner's phenomenon on normal colored skin around the graft site, scar formation on recipients sites. In our view these resulted in unwanted damage to the dermis and epidermal and skin appendageal melanocytes of normal skin by freezing. OBJECTIVE: To introduce a method to remove the depigmented epidermis of recipient site with minimal unwanted damage to melanocytes and dermal tissue. METHODS: Using Ellman surgitron, irradiation equipment of 3.8MHz frequency the depigmented epidermis was removed with a blade electrode under rated electric power around 10 watts depending on the thickness of the epidermis. Operating mode was fully filtered current for minimal charring and destruction of tissue through pure micro-smooth cutting. RESULTS: In the case of removal of the epidermis with Ellman surgitron, oozing and inflammation decreased markedly compared with those applied with liquid nitrogen. And it was confirmed histopathologically that there was no significant unwanted destruction of healthy tissue. Moreover, the electrode of Ellman surgitron is designed to be apt to trace the margin of depigmented lesion. And Ellman surgitron features a continuously linear intensity setting for precise, predictable control to minimize tissue destruction and charring. So we were able to remove the epidermis of the shallow lesion looking like a pseudopod and of the thinnest part of the body like eyelid also. And we grafted normal epidermis successfully on the depigmented lesion. CONCLUSION: The removal of depigmented epidermis by radio-frequency gave satisfactory results in the suction auto epidermal graft by overcoming the defects shown as depigmented epidermis which were removed by liquid nitrogen freezing. And this method made patients comfortable because of less pain, a one day operation procedure and good results.
Cicatrix ; Dermis ; Electrodes ; Epidermis* ; Eyelids ; Freezing ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Melanocytes ; Nitrogen ; Skin ; Suction* ; Transplants* ; Trout ; Vitiligo

No abstract available.
Hepatitis B virus* ; Hepatitis B* ; Hepatitis*

From January 2007 to June 2012, 55 autopsy cases were reviewed, in which death occurred outside the hospital and the patients were declared dead on arrival at the emergency departments, in order to compare the clinical and postmortem examination diagnoses of death-on-arrival patients in tertiary hospitals in Busan, Yangsan and Ulsan city. Of 22 non-traumatic deaths, 21 occurred from natural causes and 1 from unknown cause (sudden infant death syndrome, SIDS). Clinical diagnoses were cardiovascular diseases or "non-traumatic" / "unknown" while autopsy diagnoses were majorly cardiovascular diseases, especially coronary artery diseases (72.7%). Of 33 unnatural deaths, the cause of death was blunt trauma in 4 patients, sharp-force injury in 6, falling in 10, gunshot injury in 1, traffic accidents in 3, asphyxia in 2, drowning in 2, fire-related death in 1, and intoxication in 4. There were no definite discrepancies between clinical and autopsy diagnoses, except for 5 non-traumatic deaths and 2 unnatural deaths. These results suggest that the role of the emergency department may be crucial in postmortem investigations.
Accidents, Traffic ; Asphyxia ; Autopsy ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Cause of Death ; Coronary Artery Disease ; Drowning ; Emergencies ; Humans ; Infant ; Tertiary Care Centers

No abstract available.

An unusual case of homicide of a 21-year-old man who was smothered with a hot steam towel by his mother and a pastoress in the name of exorcism. Homicidal smothering in adults is rare, but does occur when the victims are not capable of defending themselves in situations such as chronic illness, old age, drug intoxication or when restrained by other people. In this case, distinct facial scalding was a clue to smothering with a hot steam towel.
Adult ; Chronic Disease ; Homicide ; Humans ; Mothers ; Steam

Eosinophilic granuloma of bone is a self-limited condition, characteristically a disease of children and young adults. It is the most benign variant of histiocytosis X. It is most common in skull, but any bone may be affected. Vertebral involvement occurs in about 10 to 15%. This benign bone destructive lesion is characterized by the presence of Langerhans cells contain Birbeck granules, infilitration of histiocytes and eosinophilic leukocytes unknown origin. We report a eosinophilic granuloma in lumbar spine of old patient.
Child ; Eosinophilic Granuloma* ; Eosinophils* ; Histiocytes ; Histiocytosis, Langerhans-Cell ; Humans ; Langerhans Cells ; Leukocytes ; Skull ; Spine* ; Young Adult

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection(SCD) is a rare entity that is infrequently diasnosed antemortem. The majority of patients have presented with acute myocardial infaction or sudden death. the etiology, prognosis and treatment of this entity remain ill-defined. We report two cases of SCD which were diagnosed by coronary agniogram and intracoronary ultrasound.
Coronary Vessels* ; Death, Sudden ; Humans ; Prognosis ; Ultrasonography

Candida vertebral osteomyelitis (CVO) is a rare disease that is a complication of intravenous drug use, but recently it has been recognized as mostly an opportunistic infection. Because CVO appears to mimic pyogenic spondylodiscitis in terms of the clinical and radiologic presentations, it is often neglected in a usual clinical setting. The clinical, radiological, and biological characteristics of CVO are often used to make a differential diagnosis with vertebral osteomyelitis from other etiologies. Once an initial proper diagnosis was performed, the treatment relies on the prompt initiation of appropriate pharmacotherapy and serial monitoring of the clinical progress. This paper report late-onset CVO in two young patients who underwent a heart transplant surgery and had postoperative systemic candidiasis. These two cases are a good reminder of the potential of CVO in immunosuppressive patients treated with anti-fungal agents. This paper presents these two cases with a review of the relevant literature.
Candida ; Candidiasis ; Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Discitis ; Drug Therapy ; Heart Transplantation ; Heart ; Humans ; Opportunistic Infections ; Osteomyelitis ; Population Characteristics ; Rare Diseases

Status epilepticus is commonly defined as a condition characterized by an epileptic seizure that is so frequently repeated or so prolonged as to produce a fixed and enduring epileptic condition. Common etiologies are brain tumor, CNS infection, vascular insults, trauma, withdrawal of antiepileptic drug, and metabolic disturbance such as hypoglycemia, hypocalcemia, hyponatremia and hyperosmolarity caused by hyperglycemia, hypernatremia, and uremic encephalopathy etc. Although some cases of epilepsia partialis continua in the patient with nonketotic hyperglycemia were reported in the previous literature, we could hardly find the report that generalized convulsive status epilepticus was the initial symptom of nonketotic hypergycemia. We recently experienced three eases of nonketotic hyperglycemia who manifested generalized convulsive status epilepticus as a initial clinical feature. Two cases were completely controlled within a few hours after the correction of hyperglycemia and intravenous dilantinization. Another case was needed an additional phenobarbital administration to control the status epilepticus. In all cases, afterthen no further seizure occurred under the normal serum glucose level without use of antiepileptics.
Anticonvulsants ; Blood Glucose ; Brain Neoplasms ; Epilepsia Partialis Continua ; Epilepsy ; Humans ; Hyperglycemia* ; Hypernatremia ; Hypocalcemia ; Hypoglycemia ; Hyponatremia ; Phenobarbital ; Phenytoin ; Seizures ; Status Epilepticus*

Cerebral aneurysms associated with arteriovenous malformation (AVM) have been reported with a variable incidence, averaged 10% of total AVM cases. It has been AVM. We report four cases of the intracranial aneurysm associated with AVM. Three cases of aneurysm were located in distal portion of feeding artery, and one case was proximal on major feeding artery. And bleeding resulted from rupture of aneurysm. Three of them located in the posterior circulation. Removal of aneurysm and AVM was successfully accomplished in 3 cases.
Aneurysm ; Arteries ; Arteriovenous Malformations* ; Hemorrhage ; Incidence ; Intracranial Aneurysm ; Rupture