A Case of Allergic Contact Dermatitis due to Henna Tattooing / 대한피부과학회지

Tattooing and other forms of body art have recently become popular fashion accessories worldwide. Temporary henna tattooing has also become increasingly popular and is readily available. Henna, which is called Mehndi in Indian, is a plant that is commonly used as a temporary dyeing agent. Para-phenylenediamine (PPD) is added to the Henna tattooing process in most cases to hasten the drying process and enhance darkness. Since PPD is widely recognized as a sensitizer, the risk of allergic contact dermatitis from henna tattoo mixtures is increasing. We report a case of contact dermatitis from a henna tattoo mixture, which developed 2 weeks after henna tattooing.

A Clinical Analysis and Treatment of Traumatic Cervical Spine Patients

The authors reviewed 90 patients with traumatic cervical spine injury admitted to our department between January, 1993 and December, 1997. The most common age group was 21-30 years old. The male to female ratio was 7.2 : 1. Motor vehicle accident was the most frequent cause of traumatic cervical spine injury. The most common mechanism of injury was compressive and then distractive flexion. The C2 body fracture was the commonest of the vertebral body fractures and C5/6 dislocation was the most common involved level of injured vertebrae. Forty-seven of these patients were managed with conservative treatment and the remaining 43 patients underwent surgery. The conservative treatment was consisted of skeletal traction, neck collar and Halo-vest application. Of 43 patients operated, 24 patients were performed by anterior approach and 10 by posterior approach and remaining 9 patients were treated by anterior approach after posterior approach. According to Modified Frankel's grading system, the rates of neurological impr-ovement at anterior approach, posterior approach and combined approach were 79.2%, 60.0% and 66.0%, respec-tively. Difference of improvement rates did not have clinical significance. There were 76 types of associated injuries were observed in 51 patients. The most common associated injury was head trauma and surgical intervention was required in 5 patients among them. The common complications were respiratory disorder, bed sore, urinary tract infection, gastrointestinal bleeding, pin site infection in decreasing order of frequency. The most common cause of death was respiratory disorder including pneumonia, atelectasis, acute respiratory distress syndrome and pulmonary edema.