Background: The importance of molecular pathology tests has increased during the last decade, and there is a great need for efficient training of molecular pathology for pathology trainees and as continued medical education. Methods: The Molecular Pathology Study Group of the Korean Society of Pathologists appointed a task force composed of experienced molecular pathologists to develop a refined educational curriculum of molecular pathology. A 3-day online educational session was held based on the newly established structure of learning objectives; the audience were asked to score their understanding of 22 selected learning objectives before and after the session to assess the effect of structured education. Results: The structured objectives and goals of molecular pathology was established and posted as a web-based interface which can serve as a knowledge bank of molecular pathology. A total of 201 pathologists participated in the educational session. For all 22 learning objectives, the scores of self-reported understanding increased after educational session by 9.9 points on average (range, 6.6 to 17.0). The most effectively improved items were objectives from next-generation sequencing (NGS) section: ‘NGS library preparation and quality control’ (score increased from 51.8 to 68.8), ‘NGS interpretation of variants and reference database’ (score increased from 54.1 to 68.0), and ‘whole genome, whole exome, and targeted gene sequencing’ (score increased from 58.2 to 71.2). Qualitative responses regarding the adequacy of refined educational curriculum were collected, where favorable comments dominated. Conclusions Approach toward the education of molecular pathology was refined, which would greatly benefit the future trainees.

Background: Prurigo nodularis (PN) is a highly pruritic disease that significantly impairs patient quality of life. Although the mechanism that causes pruritus is not clear, one hypothesis argues that neural hyperplasia, mast cell, and Merkel cell neurite complexes may be associated with PN pathogenesis. Objective: The objective of this study was to analyze whether special staining outcomes differed depending on the presence of atopic dermatitis (AD) and treatment response. Methods: A total of 209 patients diagnosed with PN was analyzed retrospectively. Patients were divided into two groups according to presence or past history of AD and by treatment response. Histopathologic features were obtained using the following stains: Giemsa, S-100, neuron-specific enolase, cytokeratin (CK)-20, CAM5.2, and CK8/CK18. Results: A total of 126 patients (60.29%) had AD, and 68 (32.54%) showed clinical improvement. There were no statistically significant differences in the staining results between the PN groups with AD (PN c̅ AD) and without AD (PN s̅ AD). Additionally, there were no statistically significant differences in staining results between the improved and non-im-proved groups. Conclusion Implementing the special stains helped to identify PN pathogenesis. Because there were no statistically significant differences in the special stain results between the improved and non-improved groups, we conclude that mast cell proliferation, neural hyperplasia, and Merkel cell hyperplasia may not have a significant effect on treatment response.

Background: Prurigo nodularis (PN) is a highly pruritic disease that significantly impairs patient quality of life. Although the mechanism that causes pruritus is not clear, one hypothesis argues that neural hyperplasia, mast cell, and Merkel cell neurite complexes may be associated with PN pathogenesis. Objective: The objective of this study was to analyze whether special staining outcomes differed depending on the presence of atopic dermatitis (AD) and treatment response. Methods: A total of 209 patients diagnosed with PN was analyzed retrospectively. Patients were divided into two groups according to presence or past history of AD and by treatment response. Histopathologic features were obtained using the following stains: Giemsa, S-100, neuron-specific enolase, cytokeratin (CK)-20, CAM5.2, and CK8/CK18. Results: A total of 126 patients (60.29%) had AD, and 68 (32.54%) showed clinical improvement. There were no statistically significant differences in the staining results between the PN groups with AD (PN c̅ AD) and without AD (PN s̅ AD). Additionally, there were no statistically significant differences in staining results between the improved and non-im-proved groups. Conclusion Implementing the special stains helped to identify PN pathogenesis. Because there were no statistically significant differences in the special stain results between the improved and non-improved groups, we conclude that mast cell proliferation, neural hyperplasia, and Merkel cell hyperplasia may not have a significant effect on treatment response.

Little is known about the benefits of statin use on liver cancer mortality among patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) considering hypercholesterolemia and obesity. A nationwide retrospective cohort study was conducted using data from a Health Examination Cohort of the National Health Insurance Service of Korea. Data on CHB patients with no other concurrent liver disease were acquired, and statin use was defined as a cumulative daily dose ≥28. A 3-year landmark analysis was performed to avoid immortal time bias. Patients who started statin therapy within the landmark date were considered statin users. A Cox regression analysis was applied to assess associations between statin use and liver cancer mortality considering hypercholesterolemia and obesity. Among 13063 patients, 193 (1.5%) died of liver cancer during the mean follow-up period of 10.6 years. After adjusting for demographic and metabolic factors, statin use [hazard ratio (HR), 0.17; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.04–0.70] and hypercholesterolemia (HR, 0.46; 95% CI, 0.24–0.88 for total cholesterol ≥240 mg/dL) were associated with a decreased risk of liver cancer mortality, whereas body mass index (BMI) ≥30 kg/m² was associated with an increased risk of liver cancer mortality (HR, 2.46; 95% CI, 1.20–5.06). This study showed that statin use was associated with decreased liver cancer mortality when adjusting for cholesterol levels and BMI. This study found that hypercholesterolemia was independently associated with decreased liver cancer mortality regardless of statin use.
Bias (Epidemiology) ; Body Mass Index ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; Cholesterol ; Cohort Studies ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; Hepatitis, Chronic ; Humans ; Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors ; Hypercholesterolemia ; Korea ; Liver Diseases ; Liver Neoplasms ; Liver ; Mortality ; National Health Programs ; Obesity ; Retrospective Studies

No abstract available.
Cheilitis ; Methods

No abstract available.
Lichen Planus ; Lichens

No abstract available.
Hyalin ; Hyalinosis, Systemic

BACKGROUND: It is well known that skin cancer and precancerous disease develop more frequently in patients undergoing solid organ transplantation than normal populations in the normal population in Western countries. However, to date, the clinical and demographic features of skin cancer and precancerous disease after solid organ transplantation are not established in Asian countries. We evaluated the clinical and demographic features of primary skin cancer and precancerous lesions after solid organ transplantation and compared these with the trends observed in Western countries. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients who underwent kidney, liver, heart, and lung transplantation between January 1995 and April 2017 and who developed skin cancer or precancerous lesions after transplantation. The various lesions observed were squamous and basal cell carcinoma, malignant melanoma, Kaposi sarcoma, Bowen's disease, and actinic keratosis. RESULTS: We identified 4604 patients who received organ transplant. The mean age of patients was 44.8 years (male, 64.6%; female, 35.4%), and the sum of the person-year of observation time was 31,024 person-years. The incidence rate per 100,000 person-years was 29.01 for squamous cell carcinoma, 19.34 for basal cell carcinoma, 6.45 for malignant melanoma 3.22 for Kaposi sarcoma, and 74.17 for Bowen's disease and actinic keratosis. The incidence rate per 100,000 person-years was the highest in patients undergoing heart transplantation (610.50), followed by those who underwent kidney transplantation (136.54) and liver transplantation (90.15). Koreans showed lower incidence rates than those observed in Westerners. CONCLUSION: The incidence of primary skin cancer and precancerous lesions after solid organ transplantation in Koreans was lower than that in Westerners. Squamous cell carcinoma was the most common skin cancer in patients undergoing solid organ transplantation and the incidence rate of skin cancer and precancerous lesions was the highest in patients undergoing heart transplantation.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Bowen's Disease ; Carcinoma, Basal Cell ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Female ; Heart ; Heart Transplantation ; Humans ; Incidence* ; Keratosis, Actinic ; Kidney ; Kidney Transplantation ; Korea* ; Liver ; Liver Transplantation ; Lung Transplantation ; Medical Records ; Melanoma ; Organ Transplantation* ; Retrospective Studies ; Sarcoma, Kaposi ; Skin Neoplasms* ; Skin* ; Transplants*

No abstract available.
Eyebrows* ; Tattooing*