OBJECTIVE: To describe granuloma annulare (GA) skin lesion development in patients during anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF) therapy. METHODS: 199 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and 127 suffering from spondyloarthropathies treated with anti-TNF antagonists were analysed to identify skin lesions suggesting GA. RESULTS: Nine cases of GA during anti-TNF therapy (123 treated ...

AIM: Squamous differentiation in eccrine porocarcinoma (EPC) is an unusual phenomenon that has rarely been reported in the literature. This study describes the clinical and pathological findings in a series of 21 cases of EPC showing extensive squamous differentiation. METHODS: The H&E-stained sections, epithelial membrane antigen and carcinoembryonic antigen immunohistochemical ...

BACKGROUND: Removal of skin lesions is one of the most common surgical procedures, with the number increasing progressively since the 1980s. OBJECTIVE: We tried to evaluate the satisfaction level of patients after removal of skin lesions and to identify the factors influencing it. STUDY DESIGN: The study group consisted of ...

BACKGROUND: Pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) is a genetic disorder characterized by fragmentation and calcification of elastic fibres with resultant pathological changes in the dermis, Bruch's membrane and blood vessels. Defects in Bruch's membrane produce angioid streaks on the retina but this appearance is not pathognomonic of PXE. Biopsy of clinically normal ...

BACKGROUND: Chronic renal failure results in multi-organ system derangement including cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, neurological, endocrinal, blood and dermatological abnormalities. Maintenance of skin homeostasis requires a delicate balance between proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. p53 and Bcl-2 proteins play a central role in the regulation of apoptosis. OBJECTIVE: Evaluation of the expression of ...

Eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) is a good indicator of eosinophilic activity and turnover, serving as a marker of activity in allergic and gastrointestinal diseases characterized by predominantly eosinophilic tissue infiltration. Our aim was to compare ECP levels infeces from healthy individuals, atopic patients, and patients with digestive diseases and establish ...

Brucellosis remains an important public health problem in Turkey, just as it is in other regions of the world. This study was conducted to determine the types and rates of cutaneous lesions that occur in patients with brucellosis. Brucellosis was diagnosed by standard tube agglutination testing for Brucella antibodies at ...

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is an emerging disease in Sri Lanka. Of 116 patients with clinical symptoms suggestive of CL, 86 were confirmed positive for Leishmania donovani. Most patients had single dry lesions, usually on the face. Patients were from 5 of the 7 agroclimatic zones in Sri Lanka.

BACKGROUND: Physical symptoms of skin diseases have been shown to negatively affect patients' wellbeing. Although insight into physical symptoms accompanying skin diseases is relevant for the management and treatment of skin diseases, the prevalence of physical symptoms among patients with skin diseases is a rather unexplored territory. OBJECTIVES: The goal ...

BACKGROUND: Dermatomyositis is an autoimmune disease that is associated with muscle and skin inflammation. Using quantitative scales, we sought to evaluate the effects of rituximab therapy on muscle strength and skin disease in patients with dermatomyositis. OBSERVATIONS: An open-label trial of rituximab therapy was conducted in 8 adult patients with ...

BACKGROUND: Clinical manifestations of hypersensitivity to azathioprine may mimic symptoms of the initial disease. We report 5 cases of peculiar skin hypersensitivity reactions to azathioprine in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. OBSERVATIONS: In 5 patients with a recent azathioprine regimen, manifestations appeared between 8 and 18 days after drug introduction. ...

OBJECTIVE: To describe the clinicopathological features in necrotizing fasciitis with evaluation of its clinical presentation, diagnostic criteria and mortality rate. DESIGN: A case series, observational study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: Kasturba Medical College Hospital, Manipal, India, from January 2003 to May 2005. PATIENTS AND METHODS: All patients meeting clinical ...

BACKGROUND: Nephrogenic fibrosing dermopathy/nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NFD/NSF) is a fibrosing cutaneous disorder recently recognized to have systemic manifestations. The disease is characterized clinically by an acute onset of hardening and thickening of the skin of the extremities and trunk, often resulting in flexion contractures, and histologically by an increase in ...

Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 has been shown to play a role in the infiltration of inflammatory cells in various tissues. It is thus part of the pathogenesis of many inflammatory diseases, including asthma and allergic rhinitis/conjunctivitis. We compared plasma MMP-9 levels of 20 patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) with that of ...

PURPOSE: Cutaneous adverse reactions from antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) are common, but have received little scientific attention from a clinical point of view. We wanted to study the incidence of skin reactions of current AEDs and to explore their relation to clinical parameters such as gender, age, and learning disability. METHODS: ...

Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) is a rare autoimmune inflammatory polyneuropathy with a high risk of respiratory failure and unclear pathogenesis. Currently, there are no valid biomarkers for diagnosis of GBS. We used 2-DE and MS to analyze the protein profiles of five pairs of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples of the GBS ...

An 8-year-old Caucasian girl had recurrent swelling, itching, burning, and painful sensations in her face and hands since 12 months of age. This reaction occurred after sunlight exposure and to a lesser extent with heat and wind. On physical examination the patient demonstrated mild focal thickening of the skin of ...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the epidemiology of pemphigus vulgaris (PV) in a Greek population and to compare it with other countries. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted based on the records of 129 patients (41 males and 88 females) with PV who visited the Department of the Oral Medicine ...

OBJECTIVE: This study examines the extent of stigmatization experienced by vitiligo patients considering the visibility of the lesions. METHODS: 363 vitiligo patients were assessed using the Experience with Skin Complaints (QES), Adjustment to Chronic Skin Disorders (ASC), and Sense of Coherence (SOC) questionnaires. Out of the total patients group two ...

Polymorphous light eruption (PLE) is a photosensitivity disorder of which the pathogenesis is not fully understood. Patient history in PLE is important since lesions are transient and often not present at time of consultation. Phototesting is done to reproduce the PLE skin lesions and to obtain information about the responsible ...

The aim of the present study was to examine, using the micronucleus (MN) assay, the low-dose radiation response of normal skin cells from cancer patients and to determine whether the hyper-radiosensitivity (HRS)-like phenomenon occurs in cells of these patients. Primary skin fibroblasts and keratinocytes derived from 40 patients with cervix ...

PURPOSE: To report the treatment of facial skin defects by cultured epithelial autografts and its clinical outcome. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between 2002 and 2003, 18 patients with secondary facial skin defects (after tumor excision, trauma, or due to chronic wound healing dysfunction) were successfully treated with autologous cultivated keratinocytes. Overall, ...

Our aim was to evaluate the usefulness of TROLAB photopatch test series (supplemented with the plant extracts). 70 patients with dermatitis on photoexposed areas or dermatitis with photosensitivity were studied. Only 2 patients had photocontact allergy - 1 each to fragrance mix 8% and p-aminobenzoic acid 10%. Photocontact allergy to ...

Multiple Sclerosis is known to cause autonomic and sexual dysfunction. However, genitourinary and sexual problems in female multiple sclerosis patients are difficult to analyse. Therefore, it is an understudied field. As an attempt to fill this gap, we evaluated genital region autonomic dysfunction of female multiple sclerosis patients by using ...

Atopic dermatitis is a common inflammatory skin condition that usually affects children. It is a chronic disease, with periods of remission and flare-ups, that adversely affects the quality of life of patients and their families. Aggressive therapy with emollients is an important intervention for patients with atopic dermatitis. Patients should ...

BACKGROUND: Treatment of scleroderma is difficult and currently no treatment can induce complete remission of the disease. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate weekly oral methotrexate in the treatment of Indian patients with systemic sclerosis. METHODS: Thirty-three patients with systemic sclerosis presenting to the department of dermatology (outpatients) who satisfied the inclusion criteria ...

BACKGROUND/AIM: Raynaud's phenomenon (RP) is usually the first symptom in patients with systemic sclerosis (SS) and may precede skin changes by several months or years. Non-invasive measurements of skin elasticity are very sensitive and appropriate for objective and quantitative evaluation of sclerodermatous skin. The aim of this study was to ...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the ability to teach scleroderma experts and young rheumatologists to perform the modified Rodnan skin score test. METHODS: Three international "teaching courses for teachers" were conducted with 6-9 experts who performed 3-9 skin score tests each. In addition, an international course for 90 young rheumatologists, in which ...

Pemphigus is an autoimmune blistering disease of the skin and mucous membranes with different reported epidemiological aspects from different countries. <b> Aim:</b> Our aim was to evaluate the epidemiological aspects of pemphigus in Mashhad city. This is the first report with regard to the characteristics of pemphigus in Khorasan province ...

<b>Background</b> : Lichen planus (LP) is a common idiopathic, inflammatory disorder that affects the skin, mucous membranes, nails and hair. Clinical observations and anecdotal reports have suggested a relationship between the exposure to a number of exogenous agents and the development of LP. One of the most important suggested bacterial ...

Atopic dermatitis is a chronic relapsing inflammatory skin disease the incidence of which has been constantly growing in all age groups. Research into the use of naphthalene in the treatment of patients with psoriasis proved its anti-inflammatory and antiproliferative effects as well as a satisfactory remission for months in more ...

Microvascular function in patients with type 1 diabetes without chronic complications was assessed using skin capillary recruitment during post-occlusive reactive hyperemia (PORH). Structural (maximal) capillary density was evaluated during venous occlusion. The study included 48 consecutive outpatients aged 26.3 +/- 10.8 years with type 1 diabetes (duration of 9.5 years) ...

Skin has an erogenic function, and skin lesions can have negative impact on sexual life and relationships with others. We compared fifty vitiligo patients and fifty chronic urticaria patients with fifty healthy controls to assess sexual functions; we used Arizona Sexual Experience Scale (ASEX; Mcgahuey, Gelenberg, Laukes, Moreno; & Delgado, ...

SETTING: A medical centre in Taipei, Taiwan. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the trend and characteristics of patients with non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) related skin and soft tissue infection. DESIGN: A total of 63 patients with culture-proven diseases were identified from January 1997 to December 2004. The medical records of all patients were ...

Chronic pruritus is a symptom of many diseases, with studies pending investigating its prevalence or incidence. The aim of this study was to describe the characteristics of the underlying diseases in a large number of patients. A total of 263 patients (110 men, 153 women; age range 8-95 years; mean ...

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic relapsing inflammatory skin disease with a distinctive clinical appearance and distribution. Around 85% of patients have positive immediate skin reaction or specific IgE to different airborne allergens that are in association with respiratory allergy. The aim of this retrospective, open and uncontrolled study was ...

Although atopic dermatitis is known to be closely associated with food antigens, the actual changes in the gastrointestinal tract have not been clarified. The aim of this study was to investigate the macroscopic and histological features of the large intestine in patients with atopic dermatitis. We studied 15 outpatients who ...

BACKGROUND: Many screening programs have been implemented for the general population; however, dermatology appointment wait times continue to be long. Changes in scheduling would allow patients with suspicious skin lesions access to more immediate care. OBJECTIVES: The objective was to introduce a method for decreasing dermatology appointment wait times to ...

Phototesting studies in cutaneous lupus erythematosus have yielded variable results, with most trials reporting photo-induction of lesions by both UVA and UVB in substantial numbers of patients. To determine the minimal erythema dose in patients with subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus (SCLE) and controls. We phototested nine patients with SCLE and ...

The clinical spectrum of cutaneous eruptions comprises benign variants like maculopapular rashes (MPRs) and potentially life-threatening events such as toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN). Apoptosis of keratinocytes is a common histopathological feature of all these drug eruptions. As in skin lesions of TEN and Stevens-Johnson syndrome patients, apoptosis of keratinocytes is ...

BACKGROUND/AIMS: To evaluate the efficacy of methotrexate (MTX) treatment for the periorbital findings in adult-onset xanthogranuloma (AOX). METHODS: The medical records of three patients with AOX, with and without asthma, who were treated with MTX at Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon, USA were examined. Diagnosis of AOX was ...

BACKGROUND: Many individuals who appear to suffer from incurable chronic skin disease use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Homeopathy has recently increased in popularity among patients with skin disease. The effects of homeopathic treatment have yet to be fully investigated in patients for whom conventional dermatological treatment is not sufficiently ...

BACKGROUND: Few epidemiological studies assessing the prevalence of chronic dermatosis are available in France and most of these studies have used biased samples drawn from specific subpopulations. As several recent studies have mentioned that self-reported diagnosis either underestimates or overestimates disease prevalence, the validity of such data is questionable. OBJECTIVES: ...

A total of 131 new cases of mycosis fungoides and Sézary syndrome were diagnosed clinically and histopathologically at our centre over a 5-year period. There were 87 males and 44 females with a mean age of 36.3 years (range 3-87 years) and no racial predilection. Of the 62 patients (47.3%) ...

Involved regions of the skin in atopic dermatitis (AD) patients have an altered barrier function. Whether uninvolved skin also has a diminished barrier is controversial. To assess the barrier function of uninvolved skin in AD patients, the percutaneous penetration of polyethylene glycols (PEGs) of various molecular sizes was determined in ...

The aim of this review is to evaluate the evidence for disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) for treatment of systemic sclerosis (SSc). In the previously published trials, DMARD therapy was usually initiated for severe skin thickening, organ involvement and alveolitis. These studies suggest beneficial effects of methotrexate, azathioprine, ciclosporine A and ...

BACKGROUND: The efficacy and safety of UVA1 (340-400 nm) phototherapy were established by studies from European countries. PURPOSE: Evaluate experience with UVA1 phototherapy for patients with cutaneous diseases in the United States. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 92 cases of UVA1-treated cutaneous conditions from four medical centers in the United ...

OBJECTIVE: Previous reports of direct immunofluorescence (DIF) studies of the skin biopsies in scleroderma were either negative or positive at various percentages and patterns. The present study was designed to evaluate the positive yield and pattern of DIF in Thai patients with scleroderma and its possible clinical correlation. MATERIAL AND ...

In a phase II study, daclizumab was given as single second-line agent to 62 patients with steroid-refractory acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD). Complete resolution of aGVHD was achieved in 68.8% of patients. This response rate was significantly associated with a lower number of involved organs and smaller extent of skin involvement. ...

BACKGROUND: Current evidence suggests that lichen planus is an immunological disease. Cytotoxic CD8+ cells in the lesional epidermis recognize a unique antigen called lichen planus specific antigen. This antigen could be demonstrated by indirect immunofluorescence using the patient's serum and autologous lesional skin. AIM: To study indirect immunofluorescence pattern in ...