No abstract available.
Brachytherapy*

BACKGROUND: Vibrio vulnificus(V. vulnificus) is a pathogenic, marine, halophilic, Gram negative bacillus which causes fulminant infection in humans through skin wounds. or the ingestion of raw seafoods or Most cases are reported sporadically in summer in the south-western coastal area of Korea. OBJECTIVE: We studied the distribution of V. vulnificus in sea water, fishes, shellfish and sea mud from May to October in 1996 and the relationship between regional distribution and environmental factors. METHODS: We collected the sea water, sea mud, fishes and seafoods from May to October in Kunsan, Daechun, Moochangpo, Puan, Youngkwang and cultured it in Thiosulfate-Citrate-Bile salt-Sucrose(TCBS) agar, Cellobiose-Polymyxin B-Colistin(CPC) agar, and Sodium dodecyl sulfate- Polymyxin B-Sucrose(SPS) agar. At the same time we investigated environmental factors such as temperature, pH, salinity, turbidity, dissolved oxygen(DO), NO3 of sea water. RESULTS: Twelve strains(2.17%) of V. vulnificus were isolated from a total of 552 specimens. The V. vulnificas isolation rate from sea mud was higher than in sea water and shellfish. Areas where V. vulnipcus was isolated were Kunsan and Daechun. It was isolated during June, July and August. The Isolation rate was higher with CPC agar than TCBS, SPS agar. When V.vulnificus was isolated at Kunsan, the environmental factors of sea water noted were as follows: temperature, 25.3C; turbidity, 121Formazine turbidity units; salinity, 12.2%; DO, 7.3mg/L; pH, 7.37 and NO3, 1.18mg/L. CONCLUSION: CPC agar is the best medium of the three above used for the isolation of V. vulnificus from environmental samples. V. vulnificus was highly isolated in the Kunsan area because of the high water temperature and turbidity, low salinity and weak alkali state of the sea water in comparision with other areas. We suggest that high temperature and turbidity, low salinity and weak alkalinity of sea water are very important environmental factors for the growth of V. vulnificus.
Agar ; Alkalies ; Bacillus ; Eating ; Fishes ; Humans ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Jeollabuk-do ; Korea* ; Polymyxins ; Salinity ; Seafood ; Seawater* ; Shellfish ; Skin ; Sodium ; Vibrio vulnificus* ; Vibrio* ; Water ; Wounds and Injuries

Pigmented Bowen's disease (PBD) is a rare variant of Bowen's disease(BD). Most of the reported cases showed pigmented patches or thin plaques. Thus its clinical manifestations may simulated other various pigmented skin lesions. We experienced 2 cases of PBD in patients with multiple BD developed after taking Korean proprietary pills (KPP, "Hwan-Yak"), which were suspected to contain certain amount of arsenics. Both patients also showed arsenical keratosis on their palms and soles. The darker pigmentation of the PBL led us to differentiated them from melanoma.
Bowen's Disease* ; Humans ; Keratosis ; Melanoma ; Pigmentation ; Skin

No abstract available.
Lung Neoplasms* ; Lung*

BACKGROUND: It is traditiqnally considered that the non-bullous fonn of impetigo is primarily of streptococcal origin and the bullous form is of staphylococcal origin. However, recent reports have shown that Staphylococcus aureus (SA) has become the predominant cauative pathogen of non-bullous impetigo as well as of bullous impetigo. Objective. Our purpose was to evaluate the predominant causativi. pathogen, and to establish a therapeutic guideline for impetigo. METHOD: We described the characteristics of lesions and gerformed bacterial culture and susceptibility tests in patients with impetigo. Patients were treatecl by one of three frequently used antibiotics(erythromycin, cefuroxime, fusidic acid). RESULTS: Of 77 patients, there were 47 cases of crusted type(61.9%), 18 cases of mixed type with crusted and bullous lesiona(23.3%), 7 cases of mixed type with crusted and pustular lesions(9.1%) and 5 cases of bullous type(6.6%). SA was grown from 90.1% af the cases, in 83.1% of cases it was the only organism to be foind and no gowth of streptococcus was faund even in mixed infections. An antimicrobial susceptibility test of 63 strains of SA demonstrated high susceptibility to vancomycin(98.4%), cefuroxime(97.1%), oxacillin(96.4%), cephalothin(95.2%), fusidic acid(91.7%) etc, and high resistance to penicillin(93.7%), gentamicin(90.5%), tobramycin(88.9%) and erythromicin(80.9%). Of 19 patients treated with erythrornycin, 12(63.1% ) showed treatment failure at a weeks, while no treatment failure occured in groups treated with cefuroxime and usidic acid. There were statistically significant differences iri therapeutic effect between cefuroxirne and erythromycin(P=0.005 by two tailedy test), and betweer fusidic acid and erythromycin(P=0.0040. But there was no significant difference between cefuroxime and fusidic acid. CONCLUSION: The predominant pathogen of non-bullous impetigo a well as bullous impetigo was SA which were highly resistant to erythromycin and highly sensitive to efuroxime and fusidic acid. In the clinical response, cefuroxinie and fusidic acid treatment were most effective and erythromycin was inadequate for treatment of impetigo.
Cefuroxime ; Coinfection ; Erythromycin ; Furosemide ; Fusidic Acid ; Humans ; Impetigo* ; Staphylococcus aureus ; Streptococcus ; Treatment Failure

No Abstract Available.
Alopecia* ; Telemedicine*

Acute generalized exanthematous pustulosis(AGEP) is a disease entity caused mostly by drugs or viral infections. Clinically it manifests as generalized erythema, erythema multiforme and amicrobial pustules with fever. Histologically, AGEP is composed of neutrophilic subcorneal and spongiform pustules. A 70-year-old female, with no personal or family history of psoriasis, was given medication including diltiazem for hypertension. Fourteen days after taking the medications, pustular eruptions appeared on the face and rapidly spread to the trunk and limbs. A Laboratory examination revealed neutrophilic leukocytosis and an elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate. The skin biopsy showed subcorneal and spongiform pustules. We report here a case of AGEP probably due to diltiazem.
Acute Generalized Exanthematous Pustulosis* ; Aged ; Biopsy ; Blood Sedimentation ; Diltiazem ; Erythema ; Erythema Multiforme ; Extremities ; Female ; Fever ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Leukocytosis ; Neutrophils ; Psoriasis ; Skin

No abstract available.
Oropharynx* ; Tongue*

Predisposing factors for venous thrombosis can be identified in the majority of patients with established venous thromboembolism (VTE). However, an obvious precipitant may not be identified during the initial evaluation of such patients. In the present case, a 47-year-old female presented to the emergency department of our hospital after ingesting multiple drugs. She had no VTE-related risk factors or previous episodes, nor any family history of VTE. After admission to the intensive care unit sudden hypoxemia developed, and during the evaluation cerebral, renal, and splenic infarctions with pulmonary embolisms were diagnosed. However, the sources of the emboli could not be identified by transthoracic echocardiography or computed tomography angiography. Protein C deficiency was identified several days later. We recommend that hypercoagulable states be taken into consideration, especially when unexplained thromboembolic events develop in multiple or unusual venous sites.
Angiography ; Anoxia ; Causality ; Echocardiography ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Female ; Humans ; Infarction* ; Intensive Care Units ; Middle Aged ; Protein C Deficiency ; Pulmonary Embolism ; Risk Factors ; Splenic Infarction ; Thrombophilia ; Venous Thromboembolism ; Venous Thrombosis

Colchicine poisoning is rare but can cause potentially life-threatening toxic complications such as hypovolemic shock, cardiovascular collapse and multiple organ failure. In this case report, we describe a case of a 20-year-old female who presented to the emergency department after suicidal ingestion of a toxic dose of colchicine. She developed thrombocytopenia, neutropenia and acute respiratory distress syndrome that required blood transfusion and administration of granulocyte colony stimulating factor for the prevention of infectious complications. With regard to the clinical manifestations of colchicine toxicity, we discussed suggested mechanisms.
Blood Transfusion ; Colchicine* ; Colony-Stimulating Factors* ; Eating ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Female ; Granulocytes* ; Humans ; Multiple Organ Failure ; Neutropenia ; Poisoning* ; Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Adult ; Shock ; Thrombocytopenia ; Young Adult