The efficacy and safety of pimecrolimus 1% cream vs. sertaconazole 2% cream in the treatment of patients with facial seborrhoeic dermatitis: a randomized blinded trial.

BACKGROUND: Facial seborrhoeic dermatitis (FSD) is a chronic inflammatory skin disorder characterized by remission and exacerbation episodes. In most cases, FSD requires long-term treatment. AIM: To compare the efficacy and safety of pimecrolimus and sertaconazole in patients with FSD. METHODS: In total, 60 patients with FSD were enrolled in this double-blind, active-controlled, randomized trial, and instructed to topically apply either pimecrolimus 1% cream (30 patients) or sertaconazole 2% cream (30 patients) twice daily for 4 weeks. Assessment of disease severity was performed using the Scoring Index (SI) at baseline, on Days 14 and 28, and at 4 weeks after treatment cessation. The levels of satisfaction from treatment and any adverse effects (AEs) were also assessed in both groups. RESULTS: Although the severity of disease reduced upon treatment in both groups, application of pimecrolimus caused a significantly better improvement than sertaconazole on Days 14 and 28 (P < 0.01 and P < 0.001, respectively). The rate of relapse was significantly lower in the pimecrolimus compared with the sertaconazole group at 4 weeks after treatment cessation (P = 0.01). The highest level of satisfaction (46.7%) was observed on Day 28 in the pimecrolimus group. Both topical treatments had acceptable safety profiles; however, pimecrolimus 1% cream was significantly (P < 0.01) less irritating than sertaconazole 2% cream. CONCLUSION: Pimecrolimus is associated with faster response and fewer AEs than sertaconazole in patients with FSD.

Isotretinoin-associated Sweet's syndrome: a case report.

OBJECTIVE: Sweet's syndrome (SS) is characterized by various clinical symptoms, physical features, and pathological findings. Although cases of SS are very rare, there has been an increase in the incidence of drug-induced SS. Till date, there have been only few reported cases of isotretinoin-induced SS. In this report, we describe the case of a 19-year-old girl who developed SS after systemic treatment with oral isotretinoin for nodulocystic acne. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this report emphasize the importance of evaluating isotretinoin as a possible, though uncommon, cause of SS and replacing it with another treatment if its involvement is suspected.

Relationship between Helicobacter pylori infection and psoriasis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease for which no specific reason has been found although various reasons have been suggested. Helicobacter pylori is a Gram-negative bacterium, which is essentially considered the cause of acute and chronic gastritis. Recently, several reports have suggested that H pylori could play a role in triggering psoriasis. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between H pylori seropositivity and psoriasis. DESIGN AND SETTINGS: This was a case-control study performed on patients with psoriasis vulgaris and healthy individuals in Fatemiye Hospital (referral center for the treatment of skin diseases), Semnan, Iran, during April 2011 to April 2012. METHODS: A case-control study including 61 patients with psoriasis vulgaris (case group) and 61 healthy individuals (control group) without any known gastrointestinal complications were enrolled. All cases were tested for H pylori infection with serology (immunoglobulin G [IgG] anti-H pylori) using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. RESULTS: Ten (16.4%) of the psoriatic patients and 8 (13%) of the control groups had an H pylori seropositive test result; the average of IgG serum level was 17.3 IU/ML in psoriatic patients and 16.1 IU/ML in the control group. The difference of serum level between the 2 groups was not meaningful (P=.302). CONCLUSION: Our finding indicated that there was neither a significant relationship between psoriasis and the serum level of IgG anti-H pylori, nor a significant relationship between psoriasis severity and the serum level of IgG anti-H pylori. Further studies should be designed to find out whether infection with H pylori is one of the reasons causing or aggravating psoriasis.

Incontinentia pigmenti: a newborn with characteristic skin lesions and bilateral optic atrophy: case report and review of literature.

Incontinentia Pigmenti (IP) is a rare X-linked dominant disorder with skin, eye, central nervous system (CNS) and tooth abnormalities. According to the reported cases, it is estimated that there have been nearly 900-1200 affected individuals. In this article, the literature is reviewed and a case of IP with characteristic skin lesions and optic atrophy is presented.