The trichofolliculoma is a rare tumor of the hair follicle occuring most often on the head and neck. We have experienced a case of 24-year-old female who had a small, dome-shaped, tan brown firm nodule on the nose. Under the clinical impression of a granuloma, an excisional biopsy of the nodule was done. Microscopically the lesion was composed of a large central cystic hair follicle with many srhall but well differenciated secondary hair follicles branching from the wall. Well developed secondary hair follicles were often grouped and were surrounded by a prominent stroma.
Female ; Humans ; Biopsy

BACKGROUND: Norwegian scabies is a highly infectious disease characterized by crust formation, different from ordinary scabies, and is caused by Sarcoptes scabiei. After the patient in our case was diagnosed with Norwegian scabies, active measures were taken to prevent its transmission within the hospital. Methods: A 66-year-old female patient was admitted to the general ward of a university hospital on January 23rd, 2008 and 6 days later, she was found to have been infected with Norwegian scabies all over the body. For epidemiological investigation, those who had been in contact with the patient were identified and interviewed. The patient was advised to follow the contact precaution, and linen the patient used was cleaned thoroughly. The surrounding environment was decontaminated by applying surface disinfectant. Preventive cream against the Norwegian scabies was distributed to staff members and patients who had been exposed to the patient, and appointed a dermatologist to educate them on how to use of medicine, what the mechanism of the disease is, what cautions must be taken, and how to write an ex post facto report. RESULTS: After the confirmation of the 1st case, no additional cases have been reported in the hospital during the ensuing 2 months. Therefore, prompt prevention and infection control activities against Norwegian scabies can be thought to have been successful. CONCLUSION: Whena patient with an uncertain skin disease is admitted, pertinent measures must be taken from the moment the patient is admitted and contact precaution should be applied both to the patients and the staff members. When a scabies patient is detected in an institution, the medical staff must enforce as much active preventive measures as possible, and by doing so, there will be a better chance to prevent the outbreak of scabies in the hospital.
Aged ; Bedding and Linens ; Communicable Diseases ; Cross Infection ; Female ; Humans ; Infection Control ; Medical Staff ; Patients' Rooms ; Sarcoptes scabiei ; Scabies ; Skin Diseases

No abstract available.
Neurofibroma*

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether a radiometric analysis of radicular cysts and periapical granulomas is useful in the differential diagnosis. In this experiment, twenty-nine periapical radiographs of the radicular cyst and those periapical granuloma were used. The periapical radiography was taken by intraoral paralleling device. The X-ray film was digitized and digitally filtered to reduce film-grain noise. We estimated density difference of the inner/outer area, roundness or circularity, bone profile or scan line of the margin and cumulative percentage frequency curve of radicular cyst & periapical granuloma. The obtained results were as follows ; 1. The differences in density between ROIs of inner and outer area of radicular cysts were smaller than those of periapical granulomas. 2. The equivalent circular diameter was over 6.3mm, there was significant difference between periapical cyst and periapical granuloma. 3. In differential diagnosis of radicular cyst and periapical granuloma using bone profile, sensitivity, spicificity and accuracy were considerably high(0.83, 0.86, 0.86) respectively. 4. Cumulative percentage frequency curve of the radicular cyst was closer to the pseudo-pixel value of 50 than average curve, whereas periapical granuloma was closer to that of 0. Hence we conclude that digital radiometric features might be useful in the differential diagnosis between radicular cyst and periapical granuloma.
Diagnosis, Differential ; Noise ; Periapical Granuloma* ; Radicular Cyst* ; Radiography ; X-Ray Film

Discoid lateral meniscus is wider and thicker than normal lateral meniscus. The tear pattern and vulnerability to injury of discoid lateral meniscus may be different from that of normal shaped meniscus. Seven hundred and seventy one meniscal tears which were treated arthroscopically between the period of 1982 and 1995 were reviewed retrospectively. Of those cases, tear of normal shaped lateral menisci occupied 327 knees (42.4 %) and discoid lateral menisci 132 knees (17.1 %) representing the higher incidence of tear in normal shaped lateral meniscus. In normal shaped menisci there were no tear in the age of below 10 and there were 37 knees of teens. In discoid lateral menisci, there were 3 knees (2.3 %) of below 10 and 42 knees of teens (31.8 %) that represent higher incidence of younger age group (P<0.05). Tears without trauma history in 31 knees (9.5 %) of normal shaped lateral meniscus and in 70 knees (53.0 %) of discoid menisci represent vulnerability of the discoid lateral meniscus to tear without injury (P<0.05). Symptomatic menisci without tear were noted only in 16 knees (12.1 %) of the discoid lateral menisci. In normal shaped menisci, longitudinal tear within the substance was most common (119 knees, 36.4 %) whereas peripheral tear was most common (57 knees, 43.2 %) in the discoid lateral meniscus, Concealed horizontal tear (11 knees, 8.3 %) and Wrisberg type discoid lateral menisci (2 knees, 1.5 %) was noted only in the discoid lateral meniscus. In summary, discoid lateral meniscus revealed different tear pattern and vulnerability to injury and different age incidence from that of normal shaped lateral meniscus.
Adolescent ; Humans ; Incidence ; Knee ; Menisci, Tibial* ; Retrospective Studies

Objectives: This study examined the factors influencing the psychological problems experienced by suicide survivors to propose support measures for them. Methods: One thousand one hundred and twenty suicide survivors who participated in psychological autopsy interviews from 2015 to 2022 were examined to explore the variables affecting psychological problems (sleep problems, depression, alcohol use problems, prolonged grief, and suicidal thoughts). Results: The analysis showed that, when controlling for demographic information, the relationship with the deceased and experiencing negative changes after the loss significantly influenced the psychological problems of suicide survivors. Conclusion This study is significant in examining various psychological issues of suicide survivors. Based on the analysis results, this paper proposes interventions tailored to the demographic characteristics of suicide survivors, enhanced support for those who lost children or spouses, and interventions addressing the negative changes after bereavement.

Objectives: This study examined the characteristics of data obtained through psychological autopsy interviews by comparing them with suicide victim data from a comprehensive investigation. Methods: For analysis, the psychological autopsy interview data held by the Korea Foundation for Suicide Prevention were compared with suicide victim data from a comprehensive investigation based on the latest three years (2018–2020) by year of death. Results: The analysis showed that the information collected through psychological autopsy interviews pertained to individuals employed at the time of death and had spouses or cohabitants.Compared to the comprehensive investigation, the psychological autopsy interviews estimated a higher proportion of relationship and mental health issues as the primary causes of suicide and detected language, behavior, and emotional warning signs at a higher rate. Conclusion Despite limitations, such as estimation issues of interviewees and investigators, differences in detailed items between the two data sources, and the high proportion of unknowns in the comprehensive investigation data, this study is significant in understanding the characteristics of nationally conducted psychological autopsy data. Future continuous analysis is anticipated to contribute to the development of effective suicide prevention strategies.

BACKGROUND: Melanogenesis is one of the characteristic parameters of differentiation in melanocytes and melanoma cells. Specific inhibitors of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), such as wortmannin and LY294002, stimulate melanin production in mouse and in human melanoma cells, suggesting that PI3K and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) might be involved in the regulation of melanogenesis. OBJECTIVE: The involvement of the mTOR pathway in regulating melanogenesis was examined using human MNT-1 melanoma cells, and the effects of the potent inhibitor of mTOR, rapamycin, in the presence or absence of alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH) were evaluated. METHODS: In cells treated with rapamycin, cell viability, melanin content, and tyrosinase (TYR) activity were measured and compared with untreated controls. Protein levels of TYR, tyrosinase-related protein (TYRP)-1, TYRP-2, and microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) were also analyzed by Western blot. RESULTS: In rapamycin-treated cells, the melanin content increased concomitantly with an elevation in TYR activity, which plays a major role in melanogenesis. There was also an up-regulation of TYR, TYRP-1, and MITF proteins. Combined treatment with rapamycin or wortmannin and alpha-MSH increased melanogenesis more strongly than alpha-MSH alone. CONCLUSION: Rapamycin-induced melanin formation may be mediated through the up-regulation of TYR protein and activity. Furthermore, rapamycin and wortmannin, inhibitors of mTOR and PI3K, respectively, have co-stimulatory effects with alpha-MSH in enhancing melanogenesis in melanocyte cells.
alpha-MSH ; Androstadienes ; Animals ; Cell Survival ; Chromones ; Humans ; Melanins ; Melanocytes ; Melanoma ; Mice ; Microphthalmia-Associated Transcription Factor ; Monophenol Monooxygenase ; Morpholines ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase ; Sirolimus ; Up-Regulation

OBJECTIVES: Surgery is being offered to an increasing proportion of the over 60s and postpoerative cognitive dysfunction may occur in the elderly. We investigated that age could be a risk factor. The confounding effects, such as learning effect due to repeated testing and the effect of distress on the test performance, were controlled for by control group. METHOD: Twenty patients aged at least 60 years completed neuropsychological test 1 day before and 1 week after surgery. We measured Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE), digit span, 'A' test, similarity test, Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) and State Anxiety Inventory (SAI). The authors compared postoperative cognitive dysfunction by neuropsychological test in the elderly patients with those in the control group. RESULTS: One week after operation, there was no cognitive impairment compared with before operation. Advanced age might not contribute to cognitive impairment except DSST. And there was an improvement in the scores for BDI and SAI in the control group only. We did not find a significant relation between early postoperative cognitive dysfunction and mood state before operation. Because the elderly patients had lower educational level and more depressive than control group before operation, we thought that the deterioration of DSST did not happened with operation, but by insufficiency of learning effect in the elderly patients. CONCLUSION: Cognition in the elderly patients was not impaired significantly after operation when attention was paid to the known perioperative influences on mental function.
Aged* ; Anxiety ; Cognition* ; Depression ; Humans ; Learning ; Neuropsychological Tests ; Risk Factors

No abstract available.