Microsporum praecox: molecular identification of a new case and review of the literature.

We report a rare case of dermatophytosis due to Microsporum praecox in a 28-year-old female horse rider. The skin lesion was located on the right external malleolus. Microscopic examination of skin scrapings revealed a dermatophyte which was also isolated in culture. The identification of M. praecox was confirmed by molecular biology (sequence analysis of PCR products amplified from internal transcribed spacer regions with universal primers). Combined antifungal therapy with oral terbinafine and topical cyclopiroxolamide resulted in complete remission of the fungal lesion within 1 month. Since 1944, only 29 cases of human M. praecox infection have been reported in the literature. The clinical features and treatment of these cases are reviewed. The prevalence of M. praecox infection is probably underestimated, and systematic molecular identification could improve our understanding of the epidemiology of this fungal dermatosis.

Squamous cell carcinomas are associated with verrucokeratotic cutaneous lesions but not with common warts in organ-transplant patients. A case-control study.

BACKGROUND: Warts are thought to be associated with the development of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in organ transplant patients. We investigated the association between the different types of warts and SCC in organ transplant patients. METHODS: A prospective multicenter case-control study was conducted. Cases were patients with a kidney or heart transplant who were referred for a SCC. Controls were organ transplant patients without SCC, individually matched for age, gender, type of organ transplant (heart or kidney), skin phototype, time from transplantation, and center. Four types of warts: flat warts, verrucae vulgares (including palmo-plantar warts and common warts), verrucous papilloma, and verrucokeratotic lesions were compared between cases and controls using conditional logistic regression. RESULTS: Ninety-nine cases and 169 controls were included. In multivariate analysis, number of rejections, azathioprine, prednisolone and anti-lymphocyte anti-serum or anti-CD3 monoclonal antibodies use, cumulative sun exposure, actinic keratosis, and verrucokeratic lesions (odds ratio [OR] 16.50; 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.82-96.80) were independently associated with SCC, whereas the association with verrucous papilloma was borderline significant (OR 2.21; 95% CI 0.97-8.15). The association between the presence of at least one of these two types of warts (verruco-keratotic lesions and verrucous papilloma) and the occurrence of SCC was highly significant (OR 18.36; 95% CI 3.03-111) when these warts were located in the same area than SCC, whereas no significant association was evidenced when these warts were located in another area (OR 1.02; 95% CI 0.13-5.79). CONCLUSION: Verrucous papilloma and mainly verrucokeratotic lesions are strongly associated with the risk of SCC in organ transplant patients, whereas the most typical types of warts: verrucae vulgares and flat warts, are not.

Prospective evaluation of risk factors of cutaneous drug reactions to sulfonamides in patients with AIDS.

BACKGROUND: Persons with HIV infection have increased rates of drug eruptions. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to evaluate the risk factors of drug eruptions in response to sulfonamides in patients with AIDS, using a case-control analysis. METHODS: One hundred thirty-six patients who were hospitalized for pneumocystosis or toxoplasmosis were evaluated at the onset of treatment for various risk factors, which were then compared among patients with (48, 36%) and without (88, 64%) a drug eruption. RESULTS: In multivariate analysis, high CD8(+) cell count and age less than 36 years indicated a risk of drug eruption (respective odds ratios: 3.5 [95% CI 1.6-7.8], P =.002, and 2.1 [95% CI 1-4.6], P =.06). Markers of viral replication for HIV, Epstein-Barr virus, cytomegalovirus, human herpesvirus 6, and parvovirus B19, slow acetylation phenotype or genotype, and glutathione level were not associated with a risk. Administration of corticosteroids had no preventive effect. CONCLUSIONS: Our results challenge several current concepts regarding drug eruptions by discarding a strong association with glutathione deficiency, slow acetylation, or active viral infections and by showing no preventive effect of corticosteroids.