Background: A patient with allergic contact dermatitis caused by hexavalent chromium plating on a cellular phone has already been reported. Objectives: This study described the clinical characteristics and results of patch tests in 8 patients with contact dermatitis possibly caused by handling a cellular phone. Patients: The 8 patients were 4 males and 4 females aged from 14 to 54 years. They each noticed skin eruptions after 9–25 days of using a cellular phone. All patients had erythema, and 7 had papules on the hemilateral auricle or in the preauricular region. Three of 8 patients had a history of metal allergy. Chromate, aluminium and acrylnitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer were used as plating on the cellular phones used by these patients. Methods: Closed patch tests and photopatch tests were performed using metal standard antigens. Results: The patch test was positive for 0.5, 0.1 and 0.05% potassium dichromate in all 8 patients. The photopatch test showed the same results. One patient was positive for 2% cobalt chloride and one for 5% nickel sulfate. Conclusion: It is important to consider the possibility of contact dermatitis due to a cellular phone, possibly caused by chromate, when the patients have erythema and papules on the hemilateral auricle or in the preauricular region.

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Forty-eight Japanese infants with acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL) (n = 24) and acute nonlymphoid leukemia (ANLL) (n = 24) were analyzed on the basis of clinical and laboratory data. Morphologically, 20 of the 24 infants with ALL were of the FAB L1 type, and 20 of the 24 infants with ANLL were of the M4 or M5 type. Markedly enlarged liver and spleen, and hyperleukocytosis (more than 50,000/microliters) were seen in 9, 12, and 14 infants with ALL and 10, 11, and 10 infants with ANLL, respectively. Initial CNS leukemia was evident in 2 infants. Chromosome studies of the leukemic cells showed abnormal karyotypes in 9 of the 21 infants with ALL and 19 of the 22 infants with ANLL, consisting mainly of translocation 11, 12, and inversion 16. By surface marker analysis, only 7 of the 22 infants with ALL (32%) were diagnosed as having common ALL (HLA-DR+, CD19+, CD10+). Of the 15 infants with ANLL, 12 and 5 infants also showed reactivity to HLA-DR and CD19, respectively. All of the 5 ANLL infants with lymphoid markers showed different leukemic cell features at the time of relapse. Twelve of the 19 infants with ALL (63%) who achieved a complete remission relapsed within the first 2 years; 8 of the 21 with ANLL (38%) relapsed within the first year. Analysis of event-free survival shows that the ALL infants with hyperleukocytosis have a poorer prognosis than those without hyperleukocytosis (p less than 0.05). Infant leukemia originates in a multipotent cell with lymphoid and myeloid features, and intensive multiagent chemotherapy is necessary for the treatment of infants with acute leukemia.

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Polymorphonuclear neutrophilic leucocyte (PMNL) migration into the subarachnoid space in aseptic meningitis of probable enteroviral aetiology was evaluated in relation to cerebrospinal fluid and serum levels of interleukin-8 (IL-8), macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF). IL-8 levels reached a plateau within 12h of onset, while M-CSF and G-CSF levels reached a peak between 12 and 24 h after onset, corresponding to the peak increase in PMNL count. G-CSF levels had the closest correlation with PMNL count. M-CSF levels were weakly correlated with PMNL count. IL-8 levels were not correlated with PMNL count except within 12 h of onset. IL-8 and G-CSF were detected predominantly in cerebrospinal fluid, while the M-CSF levels in the two compartments were not different except between 12 and 24 h after onset. It is considered that IL-8 triggers rapid and transient migration of PMNL, and that G-CSF then promotes gradual and consistent infiltration of PMNL.