Two Cases of Twenty-Nail Dystrophy

Twenty-nail dystrophy is an idiopathic nail dystrophy in which all twenty nails are uniformly and simultaneously affected with excess longitudinal ridging and loss of lustre. The pathogenesis is controversial, and the treatment is unsuccessful. It is thought to have a self-limiting and reversible nature when it develops in childhood, but in adults, it is unusual and exists persistently. We re-port here two cases of adult patients with dystrophy of all twenty nails, whose ages were 58 and 55. The disease had been present for one year and may be associated with alopecia areata in the 58 year old and an idiopathic condition in the 55 year old. Negative results were obtained on mycological studies. Biopsies taken from the nail bed revealed marked hyperkeratosis consistent with nail dystrophy.

Three Cases of Generalized Lichen Nitidus

Lichen nitidus(LN) is an uncommon chronic inflammatory disease of shiny, flat-topped, flesh-colored uniform papules most commonly located on the penis, forearms and wrists, lower abdomen, and thighs. LN almost has localized distribution, but in rare cases, it may become generalized. In Korea, three cases of generalized LN were reported. We report here three cases of generalized lichen nitidus in 31-year-old man, 8-year-old boy, and 6-year-old girl who had generalized numerous pinhead-sized, erythematous to flesh-colored, shiny papules. Microscopically, they had typical appearance of LN.

A Case of Disseminated Cutaneous Metastatic Carcinoma from Stomach Carcinoma

We report a case of disseminated cutaneous metastatic carcinoma from stomach carcinoma in a 66-year-old male who complained chiefly of widespread cutaneous nodules. He had been admitted to the Department of Internal Medicine for stomach carcinoma. A radiological examination revealed a diffuse stomach wall thickening from the fundus to the antrum, and enlargement of paraaortic and pericaval lymph nodes during an abodominal CT scan. The clinical findings manifested above may suggest cutaneous metastasis from stomach carcinoma. A histological examination of the skin and stomach biopsies showed atypical cells with pleomorphic, hyperchromatic nuclei and bubble-like cytoplasm, which are consistent with poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma. Immunohistochemical stainings showed that these cells were positive for epithelial membrane antigen (EMA), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and low molecular weight cytokeratin.

The Changes of Autoantibodies against Hair Follicle in Alopecia Areata / 대한피부과학회지

BACKGROUND: All though the cause of alopecia areata is not known, many studies have recenty focused on the autoimmunity of alopecia areata. OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to detect autoantibodies against hair follicular antigens and compare the autoantibody level before and after treatment of alopecia areata. METHODS: We collected serum from: (a) 7 alopecia areata patients with good therapeutic responses, (b) 5 alopecia areata patients with poor therapeutic responses (c) 5 normal control people. First, we detected the antigens of hair follicles with SDS-PAGE. Secondly we reacted the antigens with the patients' and normal control serums by Western blotting. RESULTS: The follicular antigens were seen in the range of 44kD-57kD. Autoantibodies obviously apparent in patients of alopecia areata but not in the normal control. High concentrations of were Autoantibodies against follicular antigens seemed to be present in the patients with good therapeutic responses and as they had been treated well, the level of autoantiboies has decreased. Autoantibodies, however, were present in small amounts and were almost an changed between before and after treatment in the patients with poor therapeutic responses except for one case. CONCLUSION: There are kinds of autoantibodies against hair follicles in the serums of alopecia areata patients, and the titers of antibodies may be correlated with therapeutic responses.

A Case of Tinea Capitis Developed In Sisters / 대한의진균학회지

Tinea capitis caused by Microsporum(M.) canis has been prevalent after 1970s, replacing M. ferrugineum. But, recently as the incidence of M. canis infection has been decreased, the prevalence of tinea capitis has also been decreased. We report a case of tinea capitis seen simultaneously in 2-year-old and 4-year-old sisters. They had several thick scaly bald patches on the scalps after visiting their relatives raising a dog. On mycologic examinations, M. canis was isolated. They were successfully treated with oral terbinafine for 13 weeks and 11 weeks, respectively.