A Case of Chronic Actinic Dermatitis / 대한피부과학회지

Chronic actinic dermatitis was recently proposed as a syndrome including photosensitive eczema, photosensitivity dermatitis, actinic reticuloid, and persistent light reactivity. It is defined on the basis of 3 criteria, including clinically persistent eczematous eruption on sun-exposed skin, histologically consistent with chronic eczema, and photobiologically decreased MED to UVB. We report herein a 61-year-old man presented with 2-year history of erythematous to brownish lichenified papules and plaques on sun-exposed areas and shown decreased minimal erythema doses to both UVB and UVA. Biopsy specimen showed consistent with chronic eczema. He was treated with topical therapies of topical steroids and intralesional injection of triamcinolone, and oral anti-histamine, with avoidance of exposure to sun.

The Effect of Anesthetics on Somatosensorily Evoked Potentials during Surgery / 대한마취과학회지

BACKGROUND: Many methods are available for the monitoring of spinal cord injury during an operation. During anesthesia, somatosensily evoked potentials (SSEP) may undergo substantial changes in the latencies and amplitudes which may be interpreted as pathological. It is essential for the anesthesiologist to know the potential interactions between anesthetic drugs and neurophysiologic responses during operation. The depressant effect of inhalation agents on the central nervous system exceeds commonly used intravenous anesthetics. Therefore, intravenous anesthesia is preferred to inhalation agents. This study was designed to compare the effects of intravenous anesthetics (propofol and fentanyl) and inhalational anesthetics (enflurane and nitrous oxide) used in the operation room. METHODS: According to the inclusion criteria of ASA I-II, 40 patients who were free of neurologic disease with electric abdominal operations were randomly selected. The baseline of the SSEPs were recorded with stimulation of the posterior tibial nerve at the ankle. After obtaining the baseline (preinduction) of the SSEPs, intravenous anesthetics (propofol 10 mg/kg/h, fentanyl 1 2 microgram/kg) and inhalational anesthetics (end tidal enflurane concentration 1.0 vol %, 50% nitrous oxide in oxygen) were administered. 30 minutes after induction (steady state), additional SSEPs were recorded. Mean arterial pressure, heart rate, temperature and arterial blood carbon dioxide tension were monitored. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in the baseline of SSEPs between the intravenous anesthetics group and the inhalational anesthetics group. There were no significant differences in latencies and amplitudes between the preanesthesia state and the postanesthetia state in the intravenous anesthetics group. But the inhalational anesthetics group revealed prolonged latencies in the postanestesia state as compared with their preanesthesia state. CONCLUSIONS: The above findings suggest that the use of intravenous anesthetics can be beneficial to intraoperative SSEP monitoring for possible damage to the central nervous system during operations.

The Availability of Total Intravenous Anesthesia on Somato-Sensory Evoked Potential during Spinal Surgery / 대한마취과학회지

BACKGROUND: Somatosensory evoked potential (SSEP) has been used to help minimize neurologic morbidity during spinal surgery. But, SSEP is affected by various factors, namely technical errors, anesthetics and physiologic aspects (systemic blood pressure, temperature, blood gas tensions). We experienced 40 cases of spinal surgery done with total intravenous anesthesia under SSEP monitoring. We reviewed these cases with the availability of total intravenous anesthesia during SSEP monitoring. METHODS: Forty patients, ASA class I-II, free of neurologic disease and scheduled for elective spinal surgery were randomly selected for the study. All of the operations were performed under general anesthesia employing the method of total intravenous anesthesia with propofol and fentanyl, and monitored by SSEP. We recorded latency and amplitude of SSEP in the pre-induction, post-induction, during-instrument insertion and post-distraction periods. RESULTS: There were no statistical differences in latencies among pre-induction, post-induction, screw insertion and post-distraction period. The amplitude of the post-induction period was statistically higher than pre-induction period (p<0.05), but there were no differences in other periods. None of cases showed abnormal findings (i.e., delay of latency over 10% or decrease of amplitude over 50%). CONCLUSIONS: SSEP monitoring may be helpful in identifying potentially neurologically threatening surgical maneuvers during spinal surgery. To achieve better outcomes, we should consider the effects of various factors on SSEP. Total intravenous anesthesia may be useful method, which has lifter influence on SSEP monitoring.

Significance of beta3- adrenergic Receptor Gene Polymorphism in the Pathogenesis of NIDDM in Koreans / 대한내과학회지

OBJECTIVES: The beta3 adrenergic receptor(beta3 -AR) may play an important role in the regulation of energy expenditure and lipolysis. A mutation of the beta3 - AR gene(Trp64Arg) has been reported to be associated with early onset of non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus(NIDDM), obesity and syndrome X which are related with insulin resistance. It is well known that Korean NIDDM patients, in contrast to Caucasians, are mainly non-obese and have experienced severe weight loss during the course of disease. We studied the frequency of the mutation in Korean NIDDM patients and non-diabetics control and evaluated the clinical characteristics of Korean obese NIDDM patients. We investigated the frequency of the mutation in NIDDM patients and clinical characteristics of the patients with the mutation in order to elucidate the significance of the mutation in the pathogenesis of NIDDM in Koreans. METHODS: We studied 401 NIDDM patients and 99 controls. The NIDDM patients were divided into two groups, non-obese group and obese group, according to their body mass index at diagnosis of the disease. The Trp64Arg mutation was detected by the PCR/RFLP method using restriction enzyme Mva I. RESULTS: The Trp64Arg allele frequency(16M) of NIDDM did not differ from that(16%) of controls. Although the mutant allele frequency was not different between non-obese and obese group both in NIDDM patients and controls, the frequency of patient with the mutant allele was significantly higher in obese NIDDM patients than in non-obese NIDDM patients(38.5% vs. 26.9%, P=0.04). However, no significant differences were found in clinical and laboratory findings between the NIDDM patients with the mutant allele and those without the mutant allele. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that beta3 -AR mutation might be associated with Korean obese NIDDM, and other factors might also be associated with the development of obesity and insulin resistance in NIDDM patients.