Jang Kyu Park

Sporotrichoid dermatosis caused by Mycobacterium abscessus from a public bath.

Infections caused by nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are usually associated with immunocompromised states. More recently, however, NTM infections are being diagnosed with greater frequency in patients lacking traditional risk factors. However, cutaneous infection with rapidly growing mycobacteria is uncommon, and diagnosis may be difficult.

A Clinical Observation of Scleredema Adultorum and Its Relationship to Diabetes

Scleredema may occur secondarily to diabetes or independently. The course of scleredema is not known in either type. Twenty‐one scleredema patients were included in this study (13 females, 8 males). The patients were divided into two groups according to the presence or absence of diabetes. In the group (11 patients) of scleredema which was secondary to diabetes, lesions were partially improved in 5 patients who had controlled diabetes, although it was difficult to control diabetes with insulin or oral hypoglycemics in such patients. Scleredema appeared insidiously in nine of these eleven patients. The posterior neck was involved, but the face was not. In patients without diabetes, the scleredema lesions began acutely in eight of ten of them. The course of the disease was usually stationary rather than showing acute improvement. Facial involvement was found in half of all the patients. In conclusion, scleredema patients with diabetes may improve if their diabetes is controlled, and facial involvement may be related to scleredema without diabetes.

Prognostic factors in methylprednisolone pulse therapy for alopecia areata

Many treatments induce remission in patients with alopecia areata. Systemic steroids, for example, are effective in the treatment of severe alopecia areata but have many side‐effects. To avoid these side‐effects, high‐dose bolus infusions of methylprednisolone have been used to treat severe alopecia areata. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prognostic factors associated with pulse therapy and to establish proper indications for methylprednisolone pulse therapy. Seventy patients with severe alopecia areata were treated i.v. with methylprednisolone on 3 consecutive days. All of the patients had rapid and extensive hair loss with the bald area exceeding 50% of the scalp. Seventy percent of the patients showed terminal hair growth and 41.4% showed complete responses with acceptable cosmetic outcomes. The prognostic factors that influenced successful outcome were the disease duration before treatment and the type of alopecia areata. Based on these two factors, a good response was obtained for all types of alopecia areata with a duration of 3u2003months or less before treatment and for the plurifocal type of alopecia areata with a duration of 4–6u2003months. Methylprednisolone pulse therapy is indicated for those alopecia areata patients who fall within our good response group.

A Case of Isolated Plexiform Neurofibroma in a Patient with Myasthenia Gravis

We report a case of an isolated plexiform neurofibroma occurring in a patient with myasthenia gravis. A 48-year-old man presented with asymptomatic skin-colored nodules on the tip of his 4th finger. Microscopically, a plexiform neurofibroma was identified located in the dermis that appeared to originate from small superficial nerves. He had a 20-year history of treated myasthenia gravis; otherwise, his personal and family histories were unremarkable. Given that myasthenia gravis is a disorder of the peripheral nerves, plexiform neurofibromas could be associated with myasthenia gravis. However, the development of an isolated plexiform neurofibroma in a case of myasthenia gravis has not yet been reported. The occurrence of a neurofibromas in a patient with myasthenia gravis suggests a link in the pathogenesis of these two diseases.