Cutaneous neonatal lupus erythematosus with unusual features.

A three month-old boy was brought by his mother with complaints of multiple reddish lesions on his trunk and face since birth. The patient had erythematous annular plaques with scaling on his extremities, palms and soles with periorbital erythema and edema giving the characteristic "eye mask" or "owl's eye" appearance. His mother did not have history of any illness. Hemogram, liver and renal function tests were within normal limits. A skin biopsy was suggestive of subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus. Immunological work-up was positive for antinuclear antibodies (ANA) (1:40) with anti-Ro titers of 3.4 and 3.47 (>1.1 = clinically significant titre) in the mother and child respectively, although negative for anti-La antibodies. The child's electrocardiogram and 2D echocardiography were normal. We are presenting a case of anti-Ro-positive cutaneous lupus erythematosus with an uncommon skin manifestation.

Cutaneous malakoplakia in an HIV-positive patient.

Malakoplakia is an uncommon granulomatous infectious disease that is found primarily in the genitourinary tract, but may rarely involve the skin. We report a case of cutaneous malakoplakia in an HIV-positive patient diagnosed on the basis of Michaelis-Gutman bodies. The patient presented with ulcers, draining sinuses and tender papules and nodules mainly on perigenital area, buttocks and right thigh.

Evaluation of clinical efficacy and safety of once daily topical administration of 1% oxiconazole cream and lotion in dermatophytosis : an open label, non comparative multicentre study.

The clinical efficacy and safety of once daily topical administration of 1% oxiconazole cream and lotion was assessed in an open label, non comparative trial in tinea cruris, tinea corporis and tinea pedis patients. In treated patients, severity scores of erythema, pruritus, scaling, vesicles, papules and burning showed a progressive fall over a period of 4 weeks at all the study centres. With lotion, mean percentage improvement of symptoms varied from 35% (week 1) to 87.6 - 98.7% (week 4). With cream, it varied from 35% (week 1) to 82.5 - 99.5% (week 4). Overall global evaluation response showed clear, excellent and good response in 60%, 21% and 17% of the patients treated with lotion respectively. With cream, excellent and good response was observed in 71%, 10% and 16% of the patients respectively. In T. pedis patients, clear, excellent and good response was observed in 4/8, 2/8 and 1/8 patients respectively with lotion. Cream showed clear (8/15), excellent (4/15) and good (1/15) in these patients. None of the patients out of 178 enrolled, reported any side effect during the trial.

Sezary syndrome in a young woman.

A young female patient suffered for 4 months from a widespread erythrodermic rash of unknown origin, marked by a peculiar hyperaesthesia. Haematological and biopsy findings were initially non-specific. A rapid deterioration, accompanied by infiltration of the skin, lymphadenopathy and hepatosplenomegaly was suggestive of Sezary syndrome, which was confirmed by finding of 40% of the lymphocytes being atypical (Sezary cells).

Esophageal involvement in pemphigus vulgaris.

Twenty five patients with pemphigus vulgaris were prospectively studied for esophageal involvement by endoscopic examination. Eighteen (72%) had esophageal involvement; the majority of the lesions were bullae. Histological examination showed acantholysis of the cells and exuberant inflammation.