Kerion Celsi favored by the use of a tretinoin+minoxidil+betamethasone valerate lotion in a 28-year-old woman.

Kerion Celsi is a parasitic fungal skin infection that tends to occur mainly on the back of the neck, scalp or beard. It is caused by animal fungi. Sometimes the condition resolves itself in a matter of weeks but hair loss in the affected area may be permanent. We report a case of a young woman with Kerion Celsi favored by the use of a tretinoin+minoxidil+betametasone valerate lotion.

Cutaneous leishmaniasis treated with itraconazole.

Leishmaniasis is a human disease produced by a parasite of the Leishmania genus transmitted by prick of an infected female sandfly. The disease occurs clinically with either cutaneous, mucocutaneous or visceral form, depending on the infective species and the immune status of the patient. Antimonial drugs are the current treatment of choice for all clinical forms. We report a case of cutaneous Leishmaniasis in a young girl successfully treated with itraconazole.

Cefuroxime-induced pemphigus erythematosus in a young boy.

Pemphigus erythematosus (Senear-Usher syndrome) is a variant of superficial pemphigus with features of both lupus erythematosus and pemphigus. It affects mainly middle-aged adults, and is rarely observed before the age of 20 years. The case of a 14-year-old boy who showed cutaneous lesions suggestive for pemphigus erythematosus is described. Not all laboratory and histopathological investigations confirmed the hypothesis, so a diagnosis of clinical pemphigus erythematosus was made. Systemic steroid therapy was effective in controlling the disease. This case is interesting because of the rare occurrence of pemphigus erythematosus in adolescence and the possibility of another drug being added to the list of pemphigus inducers.

Late onset Blueberry Muffin Syndrome following congenital rubella.

The authors report a case of congenital rubella in a 7-month-old female infant presenting a Blueberry Muffin Rash. Blueberry Muffin Syndrome is a cutaneous manifestation characterized by widespread maculo papular lesions of a reddish-blue or magenta colour, due to persistent dermal erythropoiesis in patients with congenital viral infections.

New established melanoma cell lines: genetic and biochemical characterization of cell division cycle.

BACKGROUND: Cancer might be envisaged as the result of a genetic process causing the unregulated proliferation of a given cell as well as its inability to undergo differentiation and/or apoptosis. Alterations of genes regulating cell division cycle appear to play a key role in the development of human cancer. OBJECTIVE: On the bases of the above considerations, we decided to establish new cell lines from human melanoma specimens, in order to analyse the molecular alterations in primary preparations of malignant cells. RESULTS: The present paper describes two new established cell lines and their genetic and biochemical features. Both the melanoma cell lines show inactivation of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor gene, CDKN2A/p16INK4A, thus demostrating that this alteration occurs in primary human melanomas. No other alterations were observable when we investigated several different cell cycle genes including those encoding cyclins, cyclin-dependent kinases and cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors. Analyses at protein level by means of immunoblotting confirmed the results obtained at the genetic level. Moreover, the inducibility of a pivotal cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor gene, namely p21CIP1 gene, was obtained by treating the cells with histone deacetylase inhibitors, namely butyrate and phenylbutyrate. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest a primary role of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor genes inactivation in the origin of human melanoma and allow the proposal of new therapeutic strategies based on the transcriptional activation of p21CIP1 gene.

Contraception with the latest estroprogestagens in women suffering from systemic lupus erythematosus.

BACKGROUND: This study was performed to evaluate, in women suffering from Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), the relationship between the assumption of oral contraceptives and the evolution of the disease. METHODS: In the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in collaboration with the Institute of Dermosyphilopathical Clinic of Second University of Studies of Naples, 20 women in fertile age suffering from SLE with specific cutaneous manifestations were studied for the year 1999. All the patients requested to take, at contraceptive purpose, low-dosage estroprogestagens. The contraceptives we prescribed have, as active substance, the gestodene at the dose of 0.075 mg and the etinilestrdiol at the dose of 0.02 mg per day. Patients' group in object was compared for a year with a similar control group of women suffering from SLE not subjected to any pharmacological therapy. RESULTS: Only 5 patients out 20 have had to suspend therapy after 4 or 5 months, because a relapse of the illness was experienced while the others 15 patients did not lament a relapse of the illness. In the control group a more or less similar percentage of patients, during the months of the observation, spontaneously had episodes of relapse of the illness. CONCLUSIONS: The results of our brief study have shown that the administration of hormonal contraceptives in reality doesn't constantly produce immediate and remarkable exacerbations of the illness in women suffering from SLE. In our opinion the contraception with the latest estroprogestagens can comfortably be effected under strict medical control, probably because the medicines at low dosage are quickly metabolized and in the majority of the cases they don't have capacity to influence the course of such chronic connectivitis.

Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans: experience with 14 cases.

Dermatofibrosarcoma is a rare, low-grade malignant skin tumour that can be considered the equivalent of malignant non-cutaneous soft tissue fibrohistiocytoma. The high rate of recurrence of this tumour is correlated with poor surgical management because lesions, often smaller than 2 cm in diameter, may be confused with dermatofibroma or keloid. Our findings confirm the importance of accurate diagnosis of primary lesions and the need for aggressive surgical treatment (excision of 5 cm of surrounding tissue) to lower the incidence of local relapse.