Je Ho Yeon

5 mg/day finasteride treatment for normoandrogenic Asian women with female pattern hair loss.

Background  Various treatments have been attempted for female pattern hair loss (FPHL), including topical minoxidil, oral antiandrogen and finasteride. But, there is no consensus on the standard treatment options. Clinical efficacy of finasteride in treating FPHL is still in controversy, but there is a tendency to high dose finasteride, which is more effective than lower dose.

Effect of dutasteride 0.5 mg/d in men with androgenetic alopecia recalcitrant to finasteride

Finasteride at a dose of 1 mg/d has been reported to show no significant improvement in 30–50% of patients with androgenetic alopecia (AGA). Dutasteride, a dual inhibitor of both type I and type II 5 alpha‐reductase, inhibits the conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone, which is the key contributor of AGA.

Gene mapping study for constitutive skin color in an isolated Mongolian population

To elucidate the genes responsible for constitutive human skin color, we measured the extent of skin pigmentation in the buttock, representative of lifelong non-sun-exposed skin, and conducted a gene mapping study on skin color in an isolated Mongolian population composed of 344 individuals from 59 families who lived in Dashbalbar, Mongolia. The heritability of constitutive skin color was 0.82, indicating significant genetic association on this trait. Through the linkage analysis using 1,039 short tandem repeat (STR) microsatellite markers, we identified a novel genomic region regulating constitutive skin color on 11q24.2 with an logarithm of odds (LOD) score of 3.39. In addition, we also found other candidate regions on 17q23.2, 6q25.1, and 13q33.2 (LOD ≥ 2). Family-based association tests on these regions with suggestive linkage peaks revealed ten and two significant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on the linkage regions of chromosome 11 and 17, respectively. We were able to discover four possible candidate genes that would be implicated to regulate human skin color: ETS1, UBASH3B, ASAM, and CLTC.

Keratoacanthoma aggravated after photodynamic therapy.

Dear Editor, Keratoacanthoma (KA) is a relatively common epithelial tumor and may develop at sites of previous trauma. Most cases grow rapidly then undergo spontaneous regression, leaving an atrophic scar. But some cases of KA cause destructive variants without regression and persistent invasive growth. A 54-year-old man first visited our hospital with a tumor on ala of the nose. The tumor developed 4 months prior, grew in the first 2 months and stopped growing in next 2 months. The tumor was 1 cm in diameter at first visit, and was an exophytic, well demarcated and erythematous nodule with central keratotic plug (Fig. 1a) and KA was proved by histopathological examination. The patient refused to undergo surgical procedure because he was worried about it leaving scars on his face after surgery. Therefore, we decided to perform topical photodynamic therapy (PDT). Methyl aminolevulinate (MAL) cream (Metvix; Galderma, Paris, France) applied to the tumor under occlusion for 3 h. Then, the lesions were then illuminated with red light (Aktilite, Photocure, Oslo, Norway; 630 nm, light dose 37 J ⁄cm). However,

Case of congenital esophageal stricture by ganglioneuroma and acro-flexural hyperpigmentation : A coincidence?

Congenital hyperpigmentation in the acro‐genital area and simultaneous occurrence of ganglioneuroma in the esophagus have yet to be reported. Herein, we report a 4‐month‐old girl presenting with feeding difficulty by esophageal ganglioneuroma and symmetrically distributed brown pigmented patches on the lips, axillae, dorsa of fingers and toes, and genital area. Although the esophageal stricture was resolved by surgical removal of ganglioneuroma, her skin manifestations remained for over 2 years.