Post-Irradiation Morphea of the Breast in a Patient with Subacute Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus: Case Report and a Literature Review.

The appearance of morphea after radiotherapy, especially in the context of breast cancer, is a rare but known phenomenon. The incidence of post-irradiation morphea (PIM) of the breast is approximately one in every 500 patients, a higher rate than morphea of any other etiology, which is three per 100,000 per year. PIM usually appears less than 1 year after irradiation (range 1 month to 32 years). The histological pattern of PIM is different from the one in post-irradiation fibrosis, which is a common side effect of radiotherapy and usually appears during the first 3 months after irradiation. Several theories have been proposed to explain the pathogenesis of PIM, probably caused by a disturbance of the cytokine pattern. The development of PIM in patients with autoimmune diseases has been described in the literature. To our knowledge, we report the first case of PIM in a patient with subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus. We should therefore pay attention when looking at patients with PIM to search for an underlying autoimmune disease.

Inter-Observer and Intra-Observer Variations in the Assessment of Epithelial Dysplasia in Oral Lichenoid Diseases.

Oral lichen planus (OLP) and oral lichenoid lesions (OLL) can both present with histological dysplasia. Despite the presence of WHO-defined criteria for the evaluation of epithelial dysplasia, its assessment is frequently subjective (inter-observer variability). The lack of reproducibility in the evaluation of dysplasia is even more complex in the presence of a lichenoid inflammation. We evaluated dysplasia in 112 oral biopsies with lichenoid inflammation in order to study the inter-observer and the intra-observer variability.

Primary Cutaneous Cryptococcosis due to Cryptococcus neoformans in an Immunocompetent Host Treated with Itraconazole and Drainage: Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Cryptococcus neoformans is an opportunistic germ, usually causing infections in immunocompromised patients. The main sources of infection with C. neoformans are excrement from birds, decomposing wood, fruit, and vegetables. Primary cutaneous cryptococcosis (PCC) is a clinical entity, differing from secondary cutaneous cryptococcosis and systematic infection. We report the case of an immunocompetent 60-year-old woman with PCC due to C. neoformans in her right thumb. She reported an accidental injury caused by a rose thorn while she was gardening. Clinical examination showed the presence of an erythematous ulcerated nodule with elevated borders, suppuration, and central necrosis. Skin histology examination showed cutaneous and subcutaneous fibrinoid necrosis with bleeding, abscess, neutrophil-rich cellular infiltration, and the presence of PAS-, Grocott- and mucin-positive spores. The mycological culture showed milky and creamy colonies of C. neoformans after 3 days. As there was no previous history of pulmonary cryptococcosis, we diagnosed PPC. We treated the patient surgically with accurate debridement of nonvital tissues in the right thumb. In addition, we started itraconazole treatment 100 mg twice daily for 6 months, which led to rapid clinical improvement without relapse. PCC is a rare infection that can present with quite unspecific clinical pictures including acneiform lesions, purpura, vesicles, nodules, abscesses, ulcers, granulomas, pustules, draining sinuses, and cellulitis. Prolonged systemic antifungal therapy is necessary in order to get a healing result without relapse. We summarize all the cases of PCC in immunocompetent patients published so far in the literature.

Gout tophi on the soles resembling viral warts.

This case highlights the need to consider tophaceous gout in patients with post-transplant renal insufficiency, chronic immunosuppression, and hypertension, who develop atypical papules or nodules on the soles, which can cause problems in differentiation from other skin diseases.

Primary Biliary Cholangitis Associated with Skin Disorders: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) is a rare autoimmune cholestatic liver disease. It is often associated with extrahepatic autoimmune diseases. Skin disorders are sporadically reported in association with PBC. We report an unusual case of PBC associated with acquired reactive perforating dermatosis (ARPD) and present a review of the literature on skin disorders associated with PBC. Our patient presented to the dermatology department with generalized pruritus associated with nodular perforating skin lesions on the trunk, and cholestatic liver disease of unknown origin. After having established both diagnosis of ARPD and PBC, she was managed in an interdisciplinary manner, and both her skin and liver conditions improved gradually. Only one similar case is reported in the literature, in that case, the liver disease was not treated. By reviewing the literature, we found that lichen planus, vitiligo, and psoriasis are the most frequent skin disorders associated with PBC. However, there is only limited data about specific skin disorders associated with PBC. This case report of a patient with PBC associated with ARPD underlines the importance of interdisciplinary management of patients with rare liver diseases combined with rare skin disorders. The present review of the literature shows that probably, immune-mediated skin conditions are not more frequent in PBC patients than in the general population. However, the available data are scant; there is a need for high-quality data on skin conditions associated with PBC.

Recurrent Nicolau syndrome associated with subcutaneous glatiramer acetate injection--a case report.

BACKGROUND: Glatiramer acetate is worldwide used as first line treatment in relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis. Local skin reactions associated with glatiramer acetate are common, however, only isolated cases of severe local injection site reactions known as Nicolau Syndrome have been reported so far. CASE PRESENTATION: We describe the case of a recurrent Nicolau Syndrome occurred during longstanding glatiramer acetate treatment in a woman with multiple sclerosis. The haemorrhagic patch necrotized and was treated locally as a deep second degree burn with excision of dead skin tissue and was healed. Treatment with glatiramer acetate was definitely suspended. CONCLUSIONS: GA injections can be complicated by isolated or recurrent Nicolau Syndrome, a potentially life-threatening condition of which neurologists should be aware.

Chronic graft-versus-host-disease-like dermopathy in a child with CD4+ cell microchimerism.

We report the case of an 11-year-old boy suffering from a severe progressive chronic skin disease with clinical features of progressive systemic scleroderma, systemic lupus erythematosus and dermatomyositis. Skin biopsies revealed fibrosis and lichenoid changes and muscle biopsy a myositis. Immunohistology of the skin showed a lichen-ruber-like pattern. Despite repeated extensive investigations, no autoantibodies were detectable. Some of these findings looked like those described in juvenile dermatomyositis. Finally, it could be demonstrated that the boy showed microchimerism with approximately 1% maternal CD4+ lymphocytes in his peripheral blood leukocytes. Furthermore maternal cells could be demonstrated in inflamed muscle tissue. So a graft-versus-host-disease-like pathomechanism appears to be likely. Several systemic therapies have been used with limited success to improve the condition including corticosteroids, azathioprine, cyclosporine A and mycophenolate mofetil. A distinct improvement of erythemas and sclerosis could be achieved by means of low-dose UVA1 phototherapy which was applied with escalating single doses of 3-12 J/cm2 for 35 consecutive days.