Intra-Tympanic Steroid Treatment Alone as an Initial Treatment for the Patients with Severe or Profound Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss and Medical Problems in Steroid Use / 대한이비인후과학회지

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: We investigated the feasibility of intra-tympanic steroid injection (ITS) treatment alone for patients with severe or profound sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL), who have medical problems in systemic steroid use. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: Medical records of 43 patients from March 2012 to March 2014 were investigated. Patients who did not have any medical problems in steroid use were treated by systemic steroid but patients with medical problems were treated by ITS alone. RESULTS: Systemic steroid was used in 32 patients, and 11 patients were treated by ITS alone. The mean follow up periods were 6.5±1.4 weeks for ITS only, and 6.5±2.6 weeks for the systemic steroid group. In the final audiometry results, the mean hearing level and the mean gain of affected ear in the two groups were not different, and the mean differences with unaffected ear in the two groups showed no differences. However, five patients of systemic steroid group recovered completely by Siegel's criteria. CONCLUSION: ITS only therapy for SSNHL is considered a great alternative for patients whose condition does not allow systemic steroid therapy.

Concurrent Mucosal Melanoma and Angiofibroma of the Nose

Malignant melanoma rarely develops in the paranasal sinuses, and generally has a poor prognosis. However, mucosal melanoma can masquerade both clinically and histopathologically as a benign lesion, rendering accurate early diagnosis difficult. On the other hand, angiofibroma, a benign tumor, is more easily diagnosed than a mucosal melanoma, because the former exhibits specific histopathological features. No cases of concurrent angiofibroma and mucosal melanoma have been reported to date. We describe such a case below.

Effects of paeonol on the tyrosinase activity and melanogenesis in co-culture model of human melanocytes and keratinocytes / 中华皮肤科杂志

Objective To study the effects of paeonol on the tyrosinase activity and melanogenesis in co-culture model of human melanocytes and keratinocytes. Methods Melanocytes and the co-culture model of human melanocytes and keratinocytes were cultivated and the proliferation of melanocytes and the co-cultures was measured by MTT colorimetric assay. The tyrosinase activity and melanin level were measured by enzymic method. Results The melanin synthesis and tyrosinase activity were markedly suppressed by paeonol in a dose-dependent manner at the concentrations of 50?mol/L, 100?mol/L, and 200?mol/L in both melanocytes and co-cultures. The significant stronger suppression was observed with 100?mol/L and 200?mol/L of paeonol than that with controls (P