Background: More and more people of all age classes have a tattoo. Intriguingly, there are multiple prejudices in the general population and published data that concern tattooed persons, such as being criminals, having a low education, being alcohol or drug abusers, or more risky in their life style. Objective: To obtain and to evaluate sociodemographic data on tattooed persons, to investigate ...

BACKGROUND Although published results are inconsistent, it has been suggested that tattooing and piercing are risk factors for HBV and HCV infections. To examine whether tattooing and piercing do indeed increase the risk of infection, we conducted a study among people with multiple tattoos and/or piercings in The Netherlands who acquired their tattoos and piercings in The Netherlands and/or abr...

Background: Previously described methods for removal of tattoos are chemical, mechanical, surgical, termal and laser assited methods. Invention of the Q-switch mode, advanced the laser method, to be one of the most effective methods of tattoo removal. Objective: Comparing the tattoo removal and rate of lymphatic elimination of 3 different wavelengths of Q-switched Nd-YAG laser (532nm, 1064nm, c...

positive axillary lymph node on positron emission tomography/computed tomography in a thymoma patient with a tattoo. A 42-year old woman presented with a mediastinal tumour and left axillary lymphadenopathy (Fig. 1), 24 years after tattooing (Fig. 2). Thymectomy and diagnostic biopsy of the left axillary lymph nodes were performed. Histopathology showed a type A, Masaoka stage I thymoma, and re...

Tattoos are well known to cause skin problems and the number of reported adverse reactions after tattooing has increased. Illegally imported tattoo ink is unrestrained and can contain unknown ingredients and contamination thereby posing a serious health hazard. We present a case illustrating the risk of pronounced phototoxic allergic reaction and other severe complications after using home kit ...

520 college students from a public university in the southwest were questioned to examine correlations between having a tattoo and the presence of tattoos among their family and friends. Tattoos among both friends and family were positively correlated with respondents' having a tattoo. The magnitude of friends' influence was about double the influence of family.