BACKGROUND: After the development of the Q-switched lasers, it was possible to remove tattoos without causing scarring. Currently, Q-switched ruby lasers, Q-switched Nd: YAG lasers and Q-switched alexandrite lasers are used selectively to treat tattoos. The objective of this study was to determine the difference of effectiveness aceording to color, site and duration in removing tattoo pigments by the alexandrite laser. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 30 tattoos were treated with a Q-switched alexandrite laser(model IL-l, Candela Laser Corporation. Wayland. U.S.A.). Pretreatment evaluation included a clinical desrviption of the site, color, duration and photographs were taken. The effects were examined by fether photo graphs and telephone follow-up. The response was expressed as the percentage area cleared of the tattoo. The clearance was graded as follows: clear, >95%; excellent, 76-95%; good, 51-75%; fair, 26-50%; poor < 25%. The occurence of adverse events were also examined. RESULTS: 1""he results are summarized as follows: 1. Treatment with fluences that ranged from 6.0-8.0J/cm2 was given on average 1.7 times and better results were achived than expected in 80% of all patients with tattoo. 2. The effectiveness of laser therapy correlated with the number of treatments. 3. After 1 laser session, tattoos of black and darkblue showed better results than light blue in terms of color. 4. After 1 laser session, the sites of tattoos on upper extremitise showed better results than those of the eyebmw, eyeline and face. 5. Differences in duration after 1 laser session were not seen. 6. Hyperpigmentation in 2 cases and bulla formation in 1 case occurred and all complications had ceased after a few months. CONCLUSION: The alexandrite laser is an effective treatment for cosmetic, general and traumatic tattoos with a low incidence of significant adverse effects and provides excellent cosmetic results.
Cicatrix ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Hyperpigmentation ; Incidence ; Laser Therapy ; Lasers, Solid-State* ; Telephone

Lymphomatoid papulosis, first described by Macaulay in 1558 is a chronic disease characterized by the recurrent self-healing papulonecrotic or nodular skin lision, showing histological features of malignant lymphoma. The clinical course is variable, with rogression to disseminated malignant lymphoma in up to 10-20% of patients. Ki-1 appears to the a representative marker for large cells ir lymphomatoid papulosis and these cells can be detected in l-1 lymphorna, Hodgkins diseasen other disorders with aetivated T cells. However, positive Ki-1 staining is useful for supporting a diagnosis of lymphomatoid papulosis, under the appropriate clinical and histopathologic findings. We report a case of positive lymphomatoid papulosis which is characterized by the typical findings of clinical, histojpathological and immunohistochemica sizdies.
Chronic Disease ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Lymphoma ; Lymphomatoid Papulosis* ; Skin ; T-Lymphocytes

BACKGROUND: Propioriacterium acnes plays an importantol in the development of inflammatory acne, and inflarnmatory lesions are improved by oralnc topical antibiotics. But as Pacnes frequently develop resistance to antibiotics in patients neing long term systemic antibiotic therapy, the theravuti effects diminish, and eventually thay fails. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to evaluate theerral susceptability of P. acnes to antibiotics and the difference in the MIC depending on the of oral and/or topical antibiotics, therapeutic effects and disease duration in patients with acie ulgaris. METHODS: We used twenty six strains of P. acnes which were obtained from patients with acne and performcd suseptibility testing for antibiotics usir the E test procedure. RESULTS: 1. The growth of P. acnes was completely inhibited by e ythromycin and chloramphenicol at concentrations of 0.023ug/ml and 0.064ug/ml, respectively cefoxitin at 0.094ug/ml, and by tetracycline and clindarnycin at 0.190 ug/ml. 2. P. acnes was mot susceptible to erythromycin, and olwed by chloramphenicol, cefoxitin, tetracycline, clindamycin in order of decreasing susceptibilit . 3. There were no significant differences in the MIC in reat in to previous antibiotic treatment. 4. For tetracycline, The MIC was significantly lower(p<0.01) in patients who improved after treatment. 5, For tetracycline and chloramphenicol, the MIC was grficantly lower(p<0.05) in patients with less than 2 years disease duration. CONCLUSION: The susptibility of antibiotics for P. acneias highest in erythromycin. There were no significant differences in the MIC in relation to prvious antibiotic treatment, and for some antibiotics the suseptibility was low in patients who dill not show clinical improvement or who had long disease duration.
Acne Vulgaris* ; Anti-Bacterial Agents* ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Cefoxitin ; Chloramphenicol ; Clindamycin ; Erythromycin ; Humans ; Propionibacterium acnes* ; Propionibacterium* ; Tetracycline

No Abstract Available.
Humans

OBJECTIVES: This study was carried out to analyze the characteristics of occupational diseases among health care workers in Korea. METHODS: Using the database of the Korea Labor Welfare Corporation (KLWC), 5, 460 approved occupational disease cases, between Jan 1, 1999 and Dec 31, 2000, and approved by the Jun 30, 2001, were collected. Of these, the 142 health care worker cases were investigated. RESULTS: The proportion of health care workers among the total cases reported in 1999 and 2000 was 2.6%, respectively. The diseases were infectious in 61 (43.0%), cerebro-cardiovascular in 60 (42.3%) and musculoskeletal in 18 cases (12.6%). The distributions of the occupational diseases by sex were 59 (41.5%) and 83 cases (58.5%), in males and females, respectively. The distributions of the occupational diseases by age were 64 (45.1%), 30 (21.1%), 25 (17.6%) and 17 cases (12.0%), in their 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s, respectively. For the cases of infectious diseases by age there were 48 (78.7%) in their 20s and 12 (19.7%) in their 30s, for the cases of cerebro-cardiovascular diseases by age there were 17 (28.3%) in their 40s, 16 (26.7%) in their 50s and 12 (20.0%) in their 20s, and for the cases of musculoskeletal diseases there were 7 (38.9%) in their 30s and 4 (22.2%) in their 20s. The distributions of the cases of occupational diseases by department were 64 (45.1%), 19 (13.4%), 18 (12.7%), and 10 (7.0%) in the nursing, doctors, officers, and food services departments, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The major occupational diseases of health care workers, as approved by the KLWC, were the infectious, cerebro-cardiovascular and musculoskeletal diseases. A special management policy must be considered to prevent occupational diseases of health care workers in Korea.
Communicable Diseases ; Delivery of Health Care* ; Female ; Food Services ; Humans ; Korea* ; Male ; Musculoskeletal Diseases ; Nursing ; Occupational Diseases* ; Social Welfare

Reticulohistiocytoma, a rare form of non-Langerhans cell histiocytoses, usually presents it-self as a single cutaneous nodule mainly on the head and neck of young men without associated arthritis. We describe an 18-year-old male patient with a red dome-shaped nodule of 2 months' duration on the scalp. Histologic examination of the excised mass revealed numerous large, mononucleated or multinucleated histiocytes with abundant eosinophilic, finely granular cytoplasm having a ground-glass appearance. Immunohistochemical staining was positive for vimentin, lysozyme, and factor XIIIa, supporting a dermal dendrocyte lineage. Ultrastructurally, large mononuclear or multinucleated cells exhibiting numerous peripheral villi contained pleomorphic cytoplasmic inclusions, fatty droplets and dense bodies. Our clinicopathologic findings support the concept that reticulohistiocytoma is a variant of adult xanthogranuloma.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Arthritis ; Cytoplasm ; Eosinophils ; Factor XIIIa ; Head ; Histiocytes ; Histiocytosis ; Histiocytosis, Non-Langerhans-Cell* ; Humans ; Inclusion Bodies ; Male ; Muramidase ; Neck ; Scalp ; Vimentin

Objective: Menstruation is a great part as the procedure for physiological, psychological development and physical growth, and menstrual disorders are very common problems in adolescence period. these problems can be resolved by interview or appropriate education of normal pubertal development. However unlike other developed countries, systematic report or appropriate education for menstruation may not be performed in our country. Therefore. our pediatric department investigated for menstruation of normal pubertal age women as an information educating adolescence. Methods: In cross-sectional study (ex, questionnaire), 4112 junior high and high school girl students (12~18 years old) in Ansan, Kyungki-do were investigated for menarcheal age, menstrual cycle, duration, amount, premenstrual syndrome, dysmenorrhea and relation to family history. Resulta: 1) Mean Menarcheal age was 12.9+/-1.2 years. According to menarcheal age by present age, menarcheal age was younger when present age was young as menarcheal age 11.8+/-0.6 years at 12 years, 13.3+/-1.1 years at 16 years, and 13.7+/-1.1 years at 18 years, respectively (p<0.001). 2) The month during which menarche occurs most frequently was August (14.7%), followed by July, December and January. 3) Considering menstrual cycle, mixed type (regular and irregular cycle) was most common (39.0%), and menstrual cycle became regular after mean 8.8+/-8.4 months. 4) In women having regular menstrual cycle, most women (53.l0%) had menstrual cycles between 26 and 30 days, next was 21~25 days and 31~35 days according to frequency. 5) Menstrual duration was 5~6 days by 49.6% of the women. 6) Premenstrual syndrome was noted in 56.0% of the women, in that 42.5% experienced occasionally and 13.5% always, respectively. 7) Dysmenorrhea was showed in 85.0% of the women. A total of 63.7% of the respondents suffered from dysmenorrhea was unaffected on daily activity as grade l and was needed no medication to relieve pain. Grade 2 (20.5%) was defined that limited daily activity and was needed medication to relieve pain. Grade 3 (0.9%) was defined that inhibited daily activity seriously, and was unimproved by analgesics. 8) The prevalence of dysmenorrhea was 78.0% at 12 years, 85.9% at 15 years and 94.0% at 18 years, respectively. Getting older, frequency of dysmenorrhea was increasing. 9) Dysmenorrhea was experienced for the first time during the first year after the menarche by 65.3% of the women. The amount of menstrual bleeding was significantly correlated to the severity of dysmenorrhea (P<0.001), and dysmenorrhea reported by the women was singificantly correlated to maternal dysmenorrhea (p<0.01) and to sisters with dysmenorrhea (p<0.001). Conclusions: We found that Korean adolescent girls had earlier menarcheal age than past period, and they had many problems for menstruation. This study suggested that it may be needed adolescent education and appropriate treatment of menstrual disorders.
Adolescent ; Analgesics ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Developed Countries ; Dysmenorrhea ; Education ; Female ; Female* ; Gyeonggi-do* ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Menarche ; Menstrual Cycle ; Menstruation* ; Premenstrual Syndrome ; Prevalence ; Siblings

Angioma serpiginosum is a rare acquired naevoid disorder, characterized by minute red or purple punta that are frequently arranged in serpiginous patterns in the lower extremities and buttocks. It usually begins in childhood and is more common in females. Histopathologically, thin-walled capillaries in the dermal papillae and the superficial reticular dermis are widely dilated without extravasation of red blood cells. We report a case of angioma serpiginosum on the lateral aspect of the right arm along the lines of Blaschko in a 36-year-old woman.
Adult ; Arm ; Buttocks ; Capillaries ; Dermis ; Erythrocytes ; Female ; Hemangioma* ; Humans ; Lower Extremity

The anti-inflammatory activity of a corticosteroid may mask the contact allergic reaction it is causing. This may be an important reason why contact allergy to corticosteroids has often been missed. A simple persistent aggravation of a dermatitis in a patient treated with one or more topical corticosteroids is sufficient to raise a suspicion of corticosteroid hypersensitivity. A 23-year-old male visited our department for the evaluation of his aggravated pruritic oozing erythematous papules, scales and edema of the face. Previously, he was treated with Dermatop ointment and Plancollotion. A Patch test showed positive reactions to prednicarbate 10%, 1%, hydrocortisone-17-butyrate 10%, and triamcinolone 10%. We conclude prednicarbate in Dermatop ointment, hydrocortisone-17-butyrate in Plancol lotion to be the etiological agents.
Adrenal Cortex Hormones ; Dermatitis ; Dermatitis, Allergic Contact* ; Edema ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; Male ; Masks ; Patch Tests ; Triamcinolone ; Weights and Measures ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVES: To analyze the characteristics of occupational diseases among agricultural, forestry and fishery workers compensated under the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance that is operated by the Korea Labor Welfare Corporation (KLWC). METHODS: Using the KLWC database, we collected 667 cases of occupational disease compensated during the 8 years between 1 January 1998 and 31 December 2005. We analyzed the characteristics of occupational diseases using the KLWC electronic data and the data investigated by the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency. RESULTS: KLWC approved 667 cases, including 69 deaths (10.3%). Men accounted for 76.0%of the approved cases. The most common age group was 50~59 years of age (37.3%). The most common size of enterprise was 5 to 49 workers (47.5%). The proportion of occupational diseases was 54.1%, of which 45.9% was work-related. Among occupational diseases, the most common was skin diseases (147 cases, 40.7%), followed by infectious diseases (131 cases, 36.3%), including scrub typhus (123 cases) and intoxication (40 cases, 11.1%). The causal hazardous agents were biological (320 cases, 88.6%), chemical (29 cases, 8.0%), and physical (11 cases, 3.0%). The major type of industry and occupation were forestry (445 cases, 66.7%) and elementary (151 among 235 cases, 89.3%), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Major compensated occupational diseases were infectious diseases, including scrubtyphus, skin diseases and toxic disease, which occurred among workers who were older, and had short tenure and elementary occupation, and these workers were out of the occupational health policy. A management policy must be established to prevent occupational diseases occurring in such vulnerable workers.
Accidents, Occupational ; Agriculture ; Communicable Diseases ; Compensation and Redress ; Fisheries* ; Forestry* ; Humans ; Insurance ; Korea* ; Male ; Occupational Diseases* ; Occupational Health ; Occupations ; Scrub Typhus ; Skin Diseases ; Workers' Compensation