No abstract available.
Immunoglobulins*

No abstract available.
Humans ; Hyperlipoproteinemia Type III ; Male

The picosecond lasers have shown to effectively treat tattoo pigments that are intractable to previous multiple Q-switched (QS) laser treatments. Therefore we hypothesized that a picosecond laser would show better efficacy with minimal adverse events in the treatment of melasma and post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH) that are difficult to treat with conventional QS lasers. Two patients with melasma and one patient with PIH were treated with a Picosecond 755-nm Alexandrite Laser (Cyanosure, USA). All patients were Korean with skin type IV and no longer responding to QS laser treatments. Laser treatment was well tolerated in all the patients. Adverse events such as PIH were not reported during 8 weeks of follow up period. After the multiple treatment sessions, one patient reported fair improvement and two patients reported good improvement. Consistent with the clinical results, ex vivo skin model irradiated with a Picosecond 755-nm Alexandrite Laser also showed decreased epidermal keratinocyte necrosis compared with the 532-nm QS Neodymium-Doped Yttrium Aluminium Garnet Laser (Lutronic, Korea) yet decreased melanin content. In conclusion, the Picosecond 755-nm Alexandrite Laser may be useful for effective treatment of intractable melasma and PIH with fewer adverse events in dark Asian skin.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Hyperpigmentation* ; Keratinocytes ; Lasers, Solid-State* ; Melanins ; Melanosis* ; Necrosis ; Skin ; Yttrium

No abstract available.
Drug Eruptions* ; Rosuvastatin Calcium

PURPOSE: Hepatic veno-occlusive disease (VOD) is a life-threatening complication occurring early after stem cell transplantation (SCT). Early diagnosis and effective treatment has not been established in severe VOD. Because there are few reports on VOD in Korean children, we evaluated the clinical characteristics of VOD following SCT in children. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the chart of all patients (n=116) receiving SCTs in CNUH Pediatric BMT center between May, 1991 and June, 2004. RESULTS: VOD developed in 11 patients (9.5%) (median age, 9.8 years; range, 2 to 13.9). Underlying diagnoses were ALL (n=3), severe aplastic anemia (n=3), AML (n=2), acute biphenotypic leukemia (n=1), neuroblastoma (n=1), and myelodysplastic syndrome (n=1). The median day of onset of VOD was D+9 (range, D-3 to D+19). VOD was classified as moderate in 5 and severe in 6 cases. Maximum level of serum total bilirubin was 2.9 mg/dL (range, 2.1 to 9.2) in moderate VOD and 7.3 mg/dL in severe VOD (range, 2.0 to 24.2) at D+18 (range, D-5 to D+59). We successfully treated VOD with various combinations including tPA and heparin (2/5, 40%), ursodeoxycholic acid (2/5, 40%), N-acetylcysteine (3/5, 60%), and defibrotide (1/2, 50%). All of 5 patients with moderate VOD survived at D+100 (range, 5.5+ to 66.6+ months). Five of 6 (83%) patients with severe VOD died within first 19 day from complications of VOD. CONCLUSION: This retrospective study showed that the incidence of VOD was 9.5%, and the mortality of severe VOD was still high which would necessitate early diagnosis, effective prevention and treatment.
Acetylcysteine ; Anemia, Aplastic ; Bilirubin ; Child ; Diagnosis ; Early Diagnosis ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation* ; Hematopoietic Stem Cells* ; Heparin ; Hepatic Veno-Occlusive Disease* ; Humans ; Incidence ; Leukemia, Biphenotypic, Acute ; Mortality ; Myelodysplastic Syndromes ; Neuroblastoma ; Retrospective Studies* ; Stem Cell Transplantation ; Ursodeoxycholic Acid

Dermatofibroma is a common benign fibrohistiocytic tumor. It can occur anywhere on the body surface, but it has a propensity for the extremities. However, dermatofibroma may show a wide variety of clinicopathologic variants and so it is often misdiagnosed. Our case was a 13-year-old male who presented with a 1-year history of a solitary skin-colored hyperkeratotic nodule on the right sole. The nodule had recurred after topical therapy for viral wart. Histopathologic examination of the patient's lesion revealed a poorly circumscribed nodular tumor composed of collagen bundles, fibroblasts and histocytes, which was all consistent with plantar dermatofibroma.
Adolescent ; Collagen ; Extremities ; Fibroblasts ; Histiocytoma, Benign Fibrous ; Humans ; Male ; Warts

No abstract available.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group* ; Humans ; Lasers, Solid-State* ; Skin*

No abstract available.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group* ; Humans ; Lasers, Solid-State* ; Skin*

Rosai-Dorfman disease or sinus histiocytosis with massive lymphadenopathy is an idiopathic, benign, histiocytic proliferative disease involving lymph nodes and extranodal sites. A 52-year-old woman presented with a 2-year history of multiple non-tender, erythematous nodules on her face. The initial punch biopsy showed lymphoid follicle-like aggregation of CD20 positive lymphocytes in the papillary dermis consisting of primary cutaneous marginal zone B-cell lymphoma. She underwent a 3-month course of radiotherapy, but the lesions progressed. The re-biopsy specimen revealed marked histiocytes with positive CD68 and S-100 proteins. The patient was treated with prednisolone and isotretinoin to which she responded slightly. Repeated histopathologic examinations enable us to make a definite diagnosis. Differentiating these two disorders as early as possible is crucial for appropriate treatment.
Biopsy ; Dermis ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Histiocytes ; Histiocytosis, Sinus* ; Humans ; Isotretinoin ; Lymph Nodes ; Lymphocytes ; Lymphoma, B-Cell, Marginal Zone* ; Middle Aged ; Prednisolone ; Radiotherapy ; S100 Proteins

BACKGROUND: Melanoma is a malignant neoplasm originating from melanocytes. It has been recently suggested that syndecan-2 may contribute to the aggressive phenotype and metastatic potential of melanoma in cell line studies. However, there is no quantitative analysis of syndecan-2 expression using human melanoma tissue. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine the specific expression of syndecan-2 in human melanoma tissue. METHODS: A total of 35 sections of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues were investigated for syndecan-2 expression using immunohistochemical staining. Also, a total of 6 tissues and two kinds of cell lines were analyzed by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and western blot. RESULTS: Immunohistochemical staining of 23 cases of melanoma tissue was done, and in 5 cases (21.7%), strong expression of syndecan-2 was seen. Also, syndecan-2 was detected in human melanoma tissue and MNT-1 melanoma cells by RT-PCR and western blot analysis. CONCLUSION: We suggest that syndecan-2 expression is increased in melanoma compared to nevus. The results of this study may help to explain the clinical features of melanoma and syndecan-2.
Blotting, Western ; Cell Line ; Humans ; Melanocytes ; Melanoma* ; Nevus ; Nevus, Pigmented* ; Phenotype ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Syndecan-2*