No abstract available.
Dizocilpine Maleate* ; Dopamine* ; Methamphetamine*

No abstract available.
Nails ; Onychomycosis

A 60-year-old man presented with a 3-week history of pruritic bullae and erosions located within an acupuncture site on the right lower leg. Ten days prior to the development of these bullae, he had been treated with acupuncture to the right calf due to Achilles tendonitis which had developed 1 year earlier. The diagnosis of bullous pemphigoid was confirmed by histologic findings and salt-split direct immunofluorescence study performed on the perilesional skin. To our knowledge, this is the first case of localized bullous pemphigoid following acupuncture.
Male ; Humans

PURPOSE: This study aims to find the factors that affect the degree of self-care performance in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. METHOD: This study used a descriptive correlational design. The data were collected using a sample of 80 PD patients, from the university affiliated Parkinson Center in Busan. Pearson's correlations and multiple regression analyses were conducted using the SPSS 18.0. RESULTS: The mean score of the self-care performance was 3.61 (+/-0.40). The highest score observed of self-care performance subscale was medication subscale (4.55+/-0.50) and the lowest score was observed in the exercise subscale (3.03+/-0.64). The self-care performance had significant correlations with depression (r=-.32, p<.01), self-care knowledge (r=.28, p<.05), function of motion (r=.25, p<.05), ability of daily activity (r=.22, p<.05), self-efficacy (r=.24, p<.05), and support from medical staff (r=.24, p<.05). The significant predictors of self-care performance included depression (beta=-.28), status of employment (beta=-.27), self-care knowledge (beta=.21), support from medical staff (beta=.28), and educational level (beta=.28), accounting for 34% of the variance in the self-care performance. CONCLUSION: Depression, self-care knowledge, medical support are significant predictors which affect the self-care performance with PD patients.
Accounting ; Depression ; Employment ; Humans ; Medical Staff ; Parkinson Disease ; Self Care

Background: Alopecia areata (AA) is a T cell-mediated autoimmune disease. In patients with chronic AA, hair loss occurs because of the insidious destruction of the stem cells in the hair bulge and hair-bulb matrix along with the attack of the cytotoxic T cells and infiltration of the T-helper 17 cells. Cyclosporine (CsA) inhibits the action of calcineurin in hair stem cells and subsequently induces the inhibition of the nuclear factor of activated T cells c1 and expression of cyclin-dependent kinase 4, thereby stimulating hair regrowth.
Objective
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the long-term therapeutic outcomes of low-dose systemic CsA treatment in patients with chronic AA, relative to their initial severity of AA. Methods: A total of 98 outpatients with chronic AA, who were treated with low-dose systemic CsA, were included in the study. Results: Among the 98 patients, 72 (73.5%) had more than 50% hair regrowth, while 30 patients (30.6%) had more than 90% hair regrowth after 18 months of CsA treatment. Patients with a lower initial severity of alopecia tool (SALT) score demonstrated better treatment outcomes than those with a higher initial SALT score. Conclusion Patients with chronic AA who were treated with low-dose, systemic CsA experienced significant hair regrowth with fewer side effects. Therefore, the use of low-dose, systemic CsA is recommended in the treatment of patients with chronic AA.

POEMS syndrome is an acronym for polyneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, monoclonal gammopathy, and skin changes. It is a rare paraneoplastic disorder related to plasma cell neoplasm. However, its pathophysiology has not yet been clearly elucidated. The production of pro-inflammatory cytokines is thought to play an important role in the pathogenesis of POEMS syndrome. Vascular endothelial growth factor level reflects disease activity, which is helpful for the diagnosis and evaluation of treatment response. Conventional agents such as corticosteroids and melphalan are effective and safe combination regimens. Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is another option for high-risk transplant-eligible patients. Radiotherapy is effective in patients with localized lesions. The anti-myeloma agents lenalidomide, thalidomide, and bortezomib have shown good treatment outcomes for POEMS syndrome; however, large-scale studies with long-term follow-up are required. Early identification and active treatment can improve the outcomes of POEMS syndrome patients.

No abstract available.
Clothing* ; Dermatitis, Allergic Contact* ; Nickel*

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Zinc has antioxidant effect, anti-inflammatory effect and neuromodulative function. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether treatment with zinc can improve the outcome of sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL). SUBJECTS AND METHOD: The study group consisted of 143 patients diagnosed as SSNHL. Of the patients, 82 were given corticosteroid treatment (group Ct) and 61 were given oral zinc plus corticosteroid treatment (group Zn). In group Zn, serum zinc level was checked before treatment and the patients with normal serum zinc level were included. Hearing was assessed before therapy and at 2 weeks, 1 month and 2 months after the initiation of therapy. RESULTS: A significantly larger hearing gain in pure tone average (group Ct vs. group Zn=26.40 dB HL vs. 34.28 dB HL) and at 2000 Hz (group Ct vs. group Zn=24.93 dB HL vs. 33.60 dB HL) and 8000 Hz (group Ct vs. group Zn=11.64 dB HL vs. 20.66 dB HL) were seen in group Zn compared with the group Ct. CONCLUSION: Oral zinc supplementation may have beneficial effects in the treatment of SSNHL, especially at 2000 and 8000 Hz.
Antioxidants ; Hearing ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural* ; Hearing Loss, Sudden ; Humans ; Zinc*

Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a syndrome of defective apoptosis, a disruption of the regulatory pathway that terminates immune and inflammatory responses.Fever, cytopenia, splenomegaly, and/or hemophagocytosis are typical findings of this syndrome. HLH can be induced by genetic disorders (familial) or secondary causes.Familial HLH is rare, while secondary causes in adults include infection, autoimmunity, and malignancy. HLH in adults tends to be confused with or misdiagnosed as sepsis, mainly due to similar clinical manifestations and laboratory findings, which make it difficult to diagnose HLH rapidly and adopt immunosuppressive agents and/or chemotherapy adequately. Treatment of pediatric HLH using HLH-2004 or multi-agent chemotherapy can be applied in adult patients, although the dose and type of drug need to be adjusted.It is highly recommended that allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation should be used in patients who become reactivated or are refractory to the initial treatment as soon as possible to improve survival. Future clinical trials are warranted to determine more suitable treatments for adult patients with HLH.