Chloracne is a refractory acneiform eruption due to halogenated polyaromatic compound(eg. dioxin, dibenzofurans, polychlorinated biphenyls, etc.). 2, 3, 7, 8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, a kind of dioxin isomer, contained in the Agent Orange which was used for defoliating agent during Vietnam war. It is characterized by recalcitrant comedones and cyst predominantly in the malar and postauricular area. Lesions of the penis and scrotum are also relatively frequent. The key pathological feature is the non-inflammatory keratinization of pilosebaceous unit. The meibomian glands are typically affected. Xerosis, conjunctivitis, pigmentation, follicular hyperkeratosis, actinic elastosis are occasionally associated with chloracne. We report a case of typical chloracne due to exposure to defoliating agent during Vietnam war in a 54-year-old-man who shows typical clinical and histopathological features.
Acneiform Eruptions ; Actins ; Chloracne* ; Citrus sinensis ; Conjunctivitis ; Male ; Meibomian Glands ; Penis ; Pigmentation ; Polychlorinated Biphenyls ; Scrotum ; Vietnam*

Sebaceous trichofolliculoma, which is a variant of trichofolliculoma, is a rare disease that clinically show a centrally depressed lesion usually singly on the nose, and histologically a centrally located cavity, lined by squamous epithelium, with numerous sebaceous lobules connected to them. We describe a case of sebaceous trichofolliculoma in a 27-year-old woman who had several brown papules on the nose. We think that this is the first report of sebaceous trichofolliculloma in Korean literature.
Adult ; Epithelium ; Female ; Humans ; Nose ; Rare Diseases

Epidermolysis bullosa acquisita (EBA) is an uncommon autoimmune subepidermal blistering disorder and has four clinical subtypes. Among the four types of EBA, the cicatricial pemphigoid-like type is rarer than the other types and clinically the worst one. We experienced a case of cicatricial pemphigoid-like type of EBA in a 69-year-old woman, whose initial symptom was painful erosive lesions of oral mucous membrane before development of ocular and bullous cutaneous lesions. The clinical, histopathological findings and immunoblot assay were all typical of the disease. The course of her disease showed remissions by treatments including corticosteroid and intravenous immunoglobulin, but each time with exacerbations.
Aged ; Blister ; Epidermolysis Bullosa Acquisita* ; Epidermolysis Bullosa* ; Female ; Glycogen Storage Disease Type VI ; Humans ; Immunoglobulins ; Mucous Membrane

Merkel cell carcinoma is a rapidly growing malignant neuroendocrine tumor with a high rate of recurrence and metastasis for which wide excision is recommended. About 10 cases of spontaneous regression have been reported in the world. We report a case of Merkel cell carcinoma which showed spontaneous regression. The patient was a 68-year-old woman with a two-month history of a rapidly enlarging dusky red tumor on her right cheek. Microscopically, the tumor cells were uniform with round to oval shaped nucleus and scanty cytoplasm, and showed trabecular arrangement. Ultrastructually, dense core neurosecretory granules 100 to 200nm in diameter were found in the cytoplasm of tumor cells. As far as we know, this is the first case of the spontaneous regression of the tumor in the country.
Aged ; Carcinoma, Merkel Cell* ; Cheek ; Cytoplasm ; Female ; Humans ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Neuroendocrine Tumors ; Recurrence

OBJECTIVE: The sub-axial injury classification (SLIC) and severity scale was developed to decide whether to operate the cervical injured patient or not, but the reliability of SLIC and severity scale among the different physicians was not well known. Therefore, we evaluated the reliability of SLIC among a spine surgeon, a resident of neurosurgery and a neuro-radiologist. METHODS: In retrograde review in single hospital from 2002 to 2009 years, 75 cases of sub-axial spine injured patients underwent operation. Each case was blindly reviewed for the SLIC and severity scale by 3 different observers by two times with 4 weeks interval with randomly allocated. The compared axis was the injury morphology score, the disco-ligamentous complex score, the neurological status score and total SLIC score; the neurological status score was derived from the review of medical record. The kappa value was used for the statistical analysis. RESULTS: Interobserver agreement of SLIC and severity scale was substantial agreement in the score of injury morphology [intraclass correlation (ICC)=0.603] and total SLIC and severity sacle (ICC value=0.775), but was fair agreement in the disco-ligamentous complex score (ICC value=0.304). Intraobserver agreements were almost perfect agreement in whole scales with ICC of 0.974 in a spine surgeon, 0.948 in a resident of neurosurgery, and 0.963 in a neuro-radiologist. CONCLUSION: The SLIC and severity scale is comprehensive and easily applicable tool in spine injured patient. Moreover, it is very useful tool to communicate among spine surgeons, residents of neurosurgery and neuro-radiologists with sufficient reproducibility.
Axis, Cervical Vertebra ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Neurosurgery ; Spine ; Weights and Measures

Phantom limbs are usually observed after amputation of extremities. In patients after a stroke, a similar but rarely occurring phenomenon consisting of the patient experiencing the presence of an additional limb has been described. This phenomenon, generally called supernumerary phantom limb (SPL), may be caused by lesions in the right or left cerebral hemisphere, but has been predominantly reported in patients who have had a right hemispheric stroke. We report two cases of atypical SPL and phantom limb pain (PLP) after pontine hemorrhage. The patients were treated conservatively and their symptoms lasted more than 1 month. This is the first report of SPLs after left pontine hemorrhage, and phantom perception and pain lasted longer than those in previously observed cases. Our results indicate that SPL may be more common than reported; therefore, thorough examinations are essential for the care of stroke patients.
Cerebral Hemorrhage/*complications ; Cerebral Infarction/complications ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pain/etiology ; Phantom Limb/*diagnosis/etiology/therapy ; Psychomotor Performance/physiology ; Stroke/complications ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

OBJECTIVE: To determine the relation between the latency and duration of the cutaneous silent period (CuSP) and ultrasonographic findings of patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). METHOD: Subjects included 50 hands of 33 patients with CTS with electrophysiologic evidence of CTS and 50 hands of 39 adults with no evidence of CTS. CuSP was measured on abductor pollicis brevis (APB) and adductor digiti minimi (ADM) by stimulation of digit 3. All subjects were examined with ultrasonography (US). Using US, the cross-sectional area (CSA) and flattening ratio (FR) of the median nerve were calculated under carpal tunnel. Analysis of differences between the control group and the CTS group was performed using ANOVA. RESULTS: Differences of CSA, FR, latency, and duration of CuSP in both APB, ADM muscles were observed between the two groups. Correlations were observed in the patient group in latency and duration of the APB muscle and only in duration of the ADM (p=0.048, r=0.159; p=0.035, r=-0.315; p=0.039, r=-0.293) muscle. Correlations were found only in duration of ADM (p=0.011, r=0.358) in the control group with respect to CSA. However, there was no correlation with FR. CONCLUSION: There seems to be a significant correlation between the CSA of the median nerve and the latency and duration of CuSP in patients with CTS. In addition, there seems to be a significant difference of CSA, FR, and latency in both APB and ADM between the two groups. CuSP and CSA might be useful for study that reflects intact small fibers in patients with CTS.
Adult ; Carpal Tunnel Syndrome ; Electromyography ; Hand ; Humans ; Median Nerve ; Muscles

Monomelic amyotrophy (MMA), also known as Hirayama disease, is a sporadic juvenile muscular atrophy in the distal upper extremities. This disorder rarely involves proximal upper extremities and presents minimal sensory symptoms with no upper motor neuron (UMN) signs. It is caused by anterior displacement of the posterior dural sac and compression of the cervical cord during neck flexion. An 18-year-old boy visited our clinic with a 5-year history of left upper extremity pain and slowly progressive weakness affecting the left shoulder. Atrophy was present in the left supraspinatus and infraspinatus. On neurological examination, positive UMN signs were evident in both upper and lower extremities. Electrodiagnostic study showed root lesion involving the fifth to seventh cervical segment of the cord with chronic and ongoing denervation in the fifth and sixth cervical segment innervated muscles. Cervical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed asymmetric cord atrophy apparent in the left side and intramedullary high signal intensity along the fourth to sixth cervical vertebral levels. With neck flexion, cervical MRI revealed anterior displacement of posterior dural sac, which results in the cord compression of those segments. The mechanisms of myelopathy in our patient seem to be same as that of MMA. We report a MMA patient involving proximal limb with UMN signs in biomechanical concerns and discuss clinical importance of cervical MRI with neck flexion. The case highlights that clinical variation might cause misdiagnosis.
Adolescent ; Atrophy ; Biological Assay ; Denervation ; Diagnostic Errors ; Extremities ; Humans ; Lower Extremity ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Motor Neurons* ; Muscles ; Neck ; Neurologic Examination ; Shoulder ; Spinal Cord Diseases ; Spinal Muscular Atrophies of Childhood ; Upper Extremity

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association of ultrasonographic (US) findings of medial meniscus protrusion (MMP) with clinical and plain radiographic assessment in knee osteoarthritis (OA). METHOD: One hundred and twenty six knees of 63 patients were studied. The degree of protrusion for each knee of patients was measured during standing by US. Radiographs were examined in order to determine whether the participants had radiographic osteoarthritis, graded using the Kellgren-Lawrence (K-L) grade. Clinical assessment was performed by recording a visual analogue scale (VAS). Correlation was obtained between the difference of VAS and MMP in the same patient. Assessment of pain, stiffness, and disability were performed by comparison of K-WOMAC index and MMP in a patient. RESULTS: Mean protrusion (mean+/-S.D.) for knees with each K-L I, II, III, and IV grade were 0.27+/-0.52 cm, 0.38+/-0.60 cm, 0.55+/-0.76 cm, and 0.75+/-0.08 cm, respectively. The difference was significant (p<0.05). Significant correlation was observed between MMP and VAS in K-L grades II (p=0.002, r=0.500) and III (p=0.002, r=0.684), also between DeltaMMP and DeltaVAS (p=0.000, r=0.558). With the K-WOMAC index, MMP were correlated with pain and stiffness (p<0.01), but not with disability score. CONCLUSION: The degree of MMP measured by US is associated with K-L grade in knee OA patients. The degree of MMP can be a reliable indicator, like K-L grade, for radiological severity of knee OA. MMP has been correlated with VAS and with subscore of pain and stiffness, but not disability in the K-WOMAC index.
Humans ; Knee ; Menisci, Tibial ; Osteoarthritis ; Osteoarthritis, Knee

OBJECTIVE: To analyze both differentially expressed genes and the Bcl-xL protein expression after acute and chronic treatment with fluoxetine in rat C6 glioma cells. METHODS: C6 glioma cells were cultured for 24 h or 72 h after treatment with 10 microM fluoxetine, and gene expression patterns were observed using microarray and qRT-PCR. Then, cells were cultured for 6 h, 24 h, 72 h or 96 h after treatment with 10 microM fluoxetine, and the expression of Bcl-xL protein was measured using western blot. RESULTS: As determined by microarray, treatment with fluoxetine for 24 h up-regulated 33 genes (including Bcl-xL and NCAM140) and down-regulated 7 genes (including cyclin G-associated kinase). Treatment with fluoxetine for 72 h up-regulated 53 genes (including Gsalpha and Bcl-xL) and down-regulated 77 genes (including Galphai2 and annexin V). Based on the qRT-PCR results, there was an increase in Gsalpha mRNA and a decrease in Galphai2 mRNA at 72 h in fluoxetine-treated cells as compared to control, a result that was consistent with microarray. We also observed an increase in Bcl-xL mRNA (both at 24 h and at 72 h) in fluoxetine-treated cells as compared to control, demonstrating a tendency to increase gradually. Bcl-xL protein expression increased as the duration of fluoxetine treatment increased. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that chronic treatment with fluoxetine not only initiates the cAMP pathway through inducing Gsalpha expression but also induces Bcl-xL expression, thus inhibiting apoptosis.
Animals ; Apoptosis ; bcl-X Protein ; Cyclins ; Fluoxetine ; Gene Expression ; Glioma ; Rats ; RNA, Messenger