Occupational hand eczema is frequent in hospital workers, especially in nurses. A comprehensive understanding regarding hand eczema is essential for establishing proper prevention and treatment strategies. The purpose of this study was to identify the risk factors for hand eczema in hospital nursing staffs. A self-administered questionnaire study was performed on hospital nursing staffs at a single general hospital in Korea. In addition, 70 patients with hand eczema underwent patch testing. Five hundred and twenty-five of 700 invited nurses completed the study (response rate, 75.0%). The overall frequency of symptom-based hand eczema was 75.6%, and self-reported hand eczema was 31.0%. Risk factors for hand eczema were young age, history of atopic dermatitis, frequent hand washing (>20 times/day) and long duration of glove wearing (>5 min). Hand eczema was less frequent among frequent hand moisturizer users (>3-4 times/day). Positive patch test reactions were observed in 61.4%. Frequent allergens were nickel sulfate (35.7%), cobalt chloride (28.6%) and thiomersal (21.4%). Among various antibiotics, ciprofloxacin (11.4%), trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (11.4%) and gentamicin (7.1%) were revealed as common allergens, in order of frequency. Hand eczema is quite common among hospital nursing staffs. Proper preventive programs and educations are demanded.

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic, relapsing, inflammatory skin disorder. Although several epidemiological studies have been conducted in Western countries, such data regarding Asian populations are scarce. In this study, we sought to investigate the demographic and clinical features of HS in Korea. A total of 438 patients, diagnosed with HS from May 2007 to April 2017, were enrolled and the electronic medical record of each patient was reviewed. Male patients were predominant with a male : female ratio of 2.5:1. Mean age of disease onset was 23.9 years and most patients had no family history. The most frequently affected area was the buttocks, followed by axillae and groin. Acne and diabetes mellitus were the most prevalent associated diseases and no patients with inflammatory bowel diseases were observed. In the univariable analysis, male patients had severe diseases compared with females with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.790. Two or more affected body regions were associated with HS severity with an OR of 1.693. While involvement of the perineum (OR, 4.067) and buttocks (OR, 1.471) tended to be associated with increased severity of the disease, the inguinal area (OR, 0.620) showed a tendency to be inversely associated with the severity. In multivariable analysis, identified risk factors were the involvement of the perineum (OR, 3.819) and buttocks (OR, 2.288). Smoking status and high body mass index seemed to be associated with more severe diseases. Our results will provide clinical characteristics of HS patients in Asia and help to broaden understanding of HS.

.95-fold after IPL treatment and up to 2.85-fold after PDT. TGF-β1 mRNA and protein showed slight increases after both IPL treatment and PDT, of which the latter induced slightly larger increases. TNF-α mRNA and protein showed no induction or reduction after PDT. Conclusion: Increased expressions of IL-10 and TGF-β1 was observed after PDT. The induction of IL-10 may contribute to the anti-inflammatory effect, which explains the therapeutic benefit of PDT for inflammatory dermatoses, and that of TGF-β1 may be related to the therapeutic effect for psoriasis. The finding that IL-10 induction was more marked after IPL treatment than after PDT suggests that other mechanisms than IL-10 induction in keratinocytes after PDT may participate in the anti-inflammatory effect of PDT.

Lichen nitidus (LN) is an uncommon chronic inflammatory skin disease composed of numerous, tiny, shiny, flesh-colored papules that are predominantly observed on the chest, abdomen, glans penis and upper extremities. The distribution of LN is most often localized, but in some cases it can become generalized. Because LN tends to be asymptomatic and presents spontaneous resolution within several years, it usually does not require treatment except in symptomatic, persistent and generalized cases. We describe a 28-yr-old man and a 7-yr-old boy with generalized LN where both cases improved with narrow-band ultraviolet B (NB-UVB) phototherapy plus topical steroid ointment. Both patients noted improvement within the first three treatments and showed almost complete resolution after 18 and 20 treatments, respectively. NB-UVB phototherapy may be an effective alternative therapy for the treatment of generalized LN, even for those patients in their childhood.

Our data suggest that BMP-4, beta-catenin, osteopontin, osteonectin and osteocalcin may be involved in the idiopathic cutaneous calcification and ossification. And smooth muscle actin positive mesenchymal cells may be involved in the cutaneous ossification. This study suggests that the idiopathic cutaneous calcification and ossification is highly complicated and regulated active process like ectopic calcification of other tissues.