• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.647-651
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• 1996

Langerhans cell histiocytosis(LCH) appears to arise from Langerhans cell and comprises a spectrum of clinical disease previously described in the literature by a variety of eponyms including histiocytosis X, eosinophilic granuloma, Hand-Schuller-Christian disease, and Letterer-Siwe syndrome. This rare disorder occurs in all groups, predominently affecting children & young adults. LCH has a wide spectrum of clinical features. The differentiation of several forms of this disease is primarily a clinical and not a histologic one. The radiographic characteristics include the appearance of solitary "intraosseous" lesions, the multiplicity of "alveolar bone" lesions, the bone lesions, periosteal new bone formation, and slight root resorption. Prognosis of a single bone lesion, is known to be excellent. In contrast, disseminated disease has seen associated with a chronic course, a high rate of morbidity and late consequences, and possible mortality. Treatment of LCH remains problematic. Treatment of multisystem disease, where organ function is being compromised has generally been with high-dose systemic corticosteroids or multiple chemotherapy.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.219-223
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• 2000

Behcet's disease is a chronic, multisystemic disorder which is more frequently seen in the Mediterranean basin, Middle East, and Far East. The mean age at the first onset is third decades. In large series of patients, men predominate over women. Infectious agents, immune mechanisms, and genetic factors are implicated in the etiopathogenesis of the disease. Eyes, skin, joints, the oral cavity, blood vessels, and central nervous system are usually involved, although less frequently the heart, lung, kidney may be affected. The prognosis of the disease has been improved because of early diagnosis and suitable treatment. Local remedies and systemic administration of colchicine, corticosteoids, immunosuppressives, and other agents have been applied. Pathergy, or skin hypersensitivity to needle puncture has been reported as a diagnostic test for Behcet's disease. We have managed a Behcet's disease patient with pathergy test & corticosteroids therapy. We have obtained good result and report this case with review of literatures.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.45-51
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• 2004

Background : Atopic Dermatitis is a chronic and recurrent skin disease. it is characterized as itch-scratch cycle and topical or systemic use of corticosteroids is required in western medicine. Though its effects on major symptoms are impressive, these treatments are prone to several side effects and tend to recur after months or years. So potential treatments have been actively studied in Estern medicine, especially Sasang constitutional therapy, which has fewer side effects. Objectives : The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of Sasang constitutional therapy on treating severe adult Atopic Dermatitis and preventing its recurrent symptoms. Methods : fifteen patients who had severe adult Atopic Dermatitis attended treatment of Sasang constitutional therapy and were followed up for one year. An oriental internal specialist first isolated Sasang constitution and a distinctive body type. Grading of Atopic dermatitis was measured by the guidelines offered by Rajka G. and Langeland T. Results : After treatment with Sasang constitutional therapy, the patients symptoms were improved and the mean Rajka and Langeland score reduced significantly from $7.73{\pm}0.79\;to\;3.4{\pm}10.91$. During the follow-up period of one year, the mean Rajka and Langeland score was $2.72{\pm}2.06$ which was lower than last treatment. Conclusions : The results of this study support Sasang constitutional therapy as an effective therapy for severe adult Atopic Dermatitis. Follow up data suggest that this Eastern medical approach is of greater clinical value than the western medical approach in the long term.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.538-542
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• 2007

Sweet syndrome is characterized by acute onset of fever. neutrophilic leukocytosis, painful erythematous plaque on the face and extremities, infiltration of mature neutrophils in the dermis. Cutaneous lesion and clinical symptoms rapidly improve after treatment with systemic corticosteroids. The cause of sweet syndrome is unknown but the associations with hypersensitivity to bacteria, virus, or tumor antigen have been reported. Sweet syndrome itself can be a premonitory manifestation of malignancy, so diagnostic work up for other internal malignancy is recommended. Because of fever and leukocytosis, cutaneous infections are important differentials. Sweet syndrome can be divided into 4 categories according to associated disease and symptom. (Idiopathic Sweet syndrome, Parainflammatory Sweet syndrome, Paraneoplastic Sweet syndrome, Pregnacy associated Sweet syndrome.) Sweet syndrome is relatively rare disease and the association with myelodisplastic syndrome has been reported. We report a case of Sweet syndrome associated with myelodisplastic syndrome which has initial manifestation of odontogenic buccal cellulites.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.52 no.7
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• pp.811-817
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• 2009

Purpose : Inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) are used as first-line agents for the treatment of persistent asthma; however, their use is accompanied by apprehension of potential systemic adverse effects. This study aimed to assess the effects of ICS on bone mineral density (BMD) and bone metabolism in children with asthma. Methods : From February 2008 to September 2008, 26 asthmatic children treated with ICS (ICS group), 15 asthmatic children treated with leukotriene receptor antagonist (LTRA) (LTRA group), and 30 healthy children (Control group) were selected from the Korea University Anam Hospital. BMD and serum bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BALP) levels were measured. The asthmatic children underwent spirometry and methacholine bronchial challenge test. Results : There were no significant differences in BMD in the lumbar spine (P=0.254) and proximal femur (P=0.297) among the 3 groups. The serum BALP levels were significantly higher in both the ICS (P=0.017) and LTRA (P=0.025) groups than in the Control group. None of the parameters pertaining to ICS use, such as the mean daily dose during the last 6 months, the total cumulative dose, duration of use, and age of commencement of use, showed significant correlations with BMD (P>0.05 for all parameters). Conclusions : We demonstrated that a low dose of ICS does not exert any significant adverse effect on bone metabolism in asthmatic children. These findings support the current recommendations with regard to the use of ICS for asthmatic children.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.1063-1071
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• 1997

Backgroung : The efficacy of oral corticosteroids in the treatment of chronic asthma is undisputed, but their long-term use is associated with adverse side-effects, including supression of the hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal axis function, osteoporosis, weight gain, hypertension and impaired glucose tolerance. The introduction of inhaled corticosteroids in the early 1970's represented a significant therapeutic advance in the management of asthma, since these compounds combined high topical potency with low systemic activity. Fluticasone propionate is a new topically active synthetic glucocorticosteroid that combinds a high degree of efficacy with negligible systemic bioavailability. This study was perfomed to determine the effect of inhaled fluticasone propionate on the adreocortical supression in patients with bronchial asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Method : The adrenocortical function was assessed by measurement of plasma cortisol concentration at 8 o'clock in morning and free cortisol in 24 hour urine collection at interval. Absolutely, no steroid was taken during pretreatment period of 10days. There after each subject inhaled fluticasone aerosol, in daily doses of 500 or 1000micrograms for 12days. The dose was delivered by metered dose inhaler(MDI). Results : The serum cortisol and 24hour urinary free cortisol were not decreased during the treatment period in patients with inhaled fluticasone propionate in daily doses of 500 micrograms. In contrast, serum cortisol was significantly decreased on 9th and 12th day(p less than 0.05). And, 24hour urinary free cortisol was also significantly decreased on 3rd and 12th day of treatement period(p less than 0.05) in patients with inhaled fluticasone in daily doses of 1000 micrograms. Conclusion : These results suggested that endogenous cortisol secretion was not supressed after short-term inhalation of fluticasone in daily dose of 500 micrograms, but in daily dose of 1000 micrograms, the endogenous cortisol secretion was supressed.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.52 no.9
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• pp.1029-1034
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• 2009

Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute systemic vasculitis of unknown etiology that affects children. There are few reports that describe the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) as the possible infectious agent of KD. Here, we describe a case of KD in a 15-year-old boy complicated with giant coronary artery aneurysms, pericardial effusion, and splenic infarction. The clinical course of KD was refractory to intravenous gamma globulin and aspirin. Our patient also showed typical findings of concomitant EBV-associated infectious mononucleosis, such as hepatosplenomegaly and generalized lymphadenopathy, with EBV-positive atypical lymphoid hyperplasia. He improved dramatically after receiving intravenous methylprednisolone followed by oral prednisolone. Ultimately, the coronary artery aneurysms remained as the only sequelae. We report a rare case of adolescent KD with EBV-associated infectious mononucleosis and splenic infarction.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.59 no.6
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• pp.690-695
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• 2005

Nitric acid is an oxidizing agent used in metal refining and cleaning, electroplating, and other industrial applications. Its accidental spillage generates oxides of nitrogen, including nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide ($NO_2$), which cause chemical pneumonitis when inhaled. The clinical presentation of a nitric acid inhalation injury depends on the duration and intensity of exposure. In mild cases, there may be no symptoms during the first few hours after exposure, or the typical symptoms of pulmonary edema can appear within 3-24 hours. However, in cases of prolonged exposure, progressive pulmonary edema develops instantaneously and patients may not survive for more than 24 hours. We report a case of a 44-year-old male who was presented with acute respiratory distress syndrome after nitric acid inhalation. He complained of cough and dyspnea of a sudden onset after inhaling nitric acid fumes at his workplace over a four-hour period. He required endotracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation due to fulminant respiratory failure. He was managed successfully with mechanical ventilation using positive end expiratory pressure and systemic corticosteroids, and recovered fully without any deterioration in his pulmonary function.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.289-301
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• 2006

Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) for cardiac surgery triggers the production and release of numerous chemotactic substances and cytokines, ensuing systemic inflammatory response that leads to postoperative major organ dysfunction. Traditionally, corticosteroids (steroid) have been administered to patients undergoing cardiac surgery to ward off these detrimental physiologic alterations. However, the majority of the studies have been performed on adult patients with high-dose steroid. We carried out a randomized, prospective, double-blind study to compare the efficacy of low-dose steroid with that of high-dose steroid and to determine the adequate dose of pretreated-steroid for prophylactic effects in pediatric cardiac surgery. Thirty pediatric patients scheduled for elective cardiac surgery were randomly assigned to two groups; fifteen patients received low-dose methylprednisolone (10mg/kg intravenously, n=15, low-dose group) and the others received high-dose methylprednisolone (30mg/kg intravenously, n=15, high-dose group) 1 hour prior to CPB. Arterial blood samples were taken before CPB (Pre-CPB), 10 minutes after start of CPB (CPB-10), and immediately after CPB-end (CPB-OFF) for measuring total leukocyte counts (T-WBC) and diff-counts, platelet counts, interleukin-6 (IL-6), myeloperoxidase (MPO), total antioxidant (TAO), neuron-specific enolase (NSE), troponin I (TNI), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), creatinine, and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) levels. Other parameters such as volumes of urine output, pulmonary index $(PI,\;PaO_2/FiO_2)$, mechanical ventilating period, intensive care unit (ICU)-staying period, postoperative complications (fever, wound problem), postoperative 24 hrs and total volumes in blood loss, and hospitalized days were also assessed. All parameters were compared between two groups. There were no significant differences in T-WBC counts, monocyte fraction, platelet counts, TA levels, NSE levels, creatinine levels, BUN levels, the volumes of total urine output, PI, the incidences of fever and wound problem, postoperative 24hrs- and total-blood loss volumes and ICU-staying period between two groups (P>0.05). At CPB-OFF, neutrophil fraction, MPO level, TNI level, and AST level were higher in the high-dose group than in the low-dose group (P<0.05). IL-6 level at CPB-10 was higher in the high dose-group than in the low-dose group (P<0.05). Furthermore, mechanical ventilating periods and hospitalized days of the high-dose group were significantly longer than those of low-dose group (P<0.05). The high-dose group had significantly low lymphocyte fi-action at CPB-OFF compared with the low-dose group (P<0.001). These findings suggest that pretreatment of high-dose steroid is not superior to that of low-dose steroid regrading its potential benefits in pediatric cardiac surgery. Therefore, the conventional strategy of steroid treatment, high-dose pretreatment, should be modified in the cardiac surgery with CPB. However, further studies must be performed on the larger number of patients in as much as small number of patients in this study.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.102-106
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• 2010

A 5-year-old castrated male Cocker Spaniel was referred to Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital of Seoul National University with a history of chronic conjunctival hyperemia and a fleshy corneal mass in the right eye. On ophthalmic examinations, it was observed that a well-vascularized fleshy mass at the dorsolateral limbus extended into the clear cornea. The lesion regressed by initial medications, including both topical and systemic corticosteroids, and topical cyclosporine A. However, the lesion relapsed and grossly infiltrated to cornea in a short period of time without improvement in spite of the immunosuppressive therapy, leading to the vision loss. The eye was enucleated and nodular granulomatous episclerokeratitis was confirmed on histopathological examination.