Osteitis in early syphilis. A case report.

Osteitis of the tibia was diagnosed in a patient presenting with secondary syphilis. The course of the illness indicates that pain in bones in secondary syphilis may be the first symptom of an otherwise inapparent osteitis.

Pyriderm shampoo in the treatment of Pediculosis capitis.

112 patients with head lice were treated with a shampoo containing pyrethrins. All were treated twice with an interval of one week. At examination immediately before the second treatment, 6 patients had small, newly hatched lice, and one patient had both small and mature lice--probably due to reinfestation. This patient was lice-free after the third treatment, the other patients after the second treatment. It is concluded that pyrethrins are highly effective against head lice and have the advantages of a low toxicity to mammals and a short contact time.

[The autoinoculation test. False-positive reactions caused by herpes simplex virus]. / Der Autoinokulationstest. Falsch positive Reaktionen durch das Herpes-simplex-Virus.

The autoinoculation test has been used as a diagnostic procedure in patients with chancroid-suspected genital ulcerations. In four of 13 patients with a positive autoinoculation test, herpes simplex virus type 2 was isolated from the primary lesions. In two of the cases this virus was also isolated from the inoculation site, and one patient developed a recurrent herpetic eruption here. Two patients were proven to have chancroid. Three of the remaining seven patients developed recurrent herpes genitalis later. It is concluded that the autoinoculation test should be avoided as a diagnostic procedure because of lack of specificity and risk of inducing recurrent herpes simplex at the site of inoculation.

Serum IgE antibodies to the scabies mite.

Porcine scabies mites, Sarcoptes scabiei var. suis are more readily available in sufficient quantities than are human scabies mites. Circulating IgE antibodies specific to porcine scabies mites were found in 6 (30%) of 20 scabies patients with an RAST score of at least 2. Seven patients had elevated serum total IgE levels. Correlation between the RAST values, the duration of pruritus, and the IgE levels was not found. The results do not prove the existence of antibodies specific to porcine scabies mites but strongly support this assumption.

The outcome of single-dose cefuroxime treatment in patients with pharyngeal gonorrhea.

This study of single-dose cefuroxime treatment of pharyngeal gonorrhea included 13 patients from whose throat specimens taken on the day of treatment Neisseria gonorrhoeae was isolated and who returned for follow-up examinations one and two weeks later. The regimen used was cefuroxime (1.5 g im) plus probenecid (1 g orally). The treatment failed in six patients (46%). Failure of treatment was not associated with decreased in vitro susceptibility of the infecting strain to cefuroxime. In pharyngeal gonorrhea the diagnosis by culture and effective control of treatment require repeated sampling for bacteriologic examinations.

[Necrobiosis lipoidica in a patient with bronze diabetes]. / Necrobiosis lipoidica bei einem Patienten mit Bronzediabetes.

A case of necrobiosis lipoidica in a patient with idiopathic hemochromatosis and diabetes mellitus is presented. Histologic examination revealed excessive amounts of iron pigment in macrophages in the corium of the necrobiotic skin. There were no iron deposits in the normal skin.

EMLA-induced analgesia inferior to lignocaine infiltration in curettage of common warts--a randomized study.

The analgesic effect of topical application of EMLA cream for the curettage verrucae vulgaris was compared to local infiltration with lignocaine in 89 patients. The main purpose of this randomized study was to evaluate the patients' overall impression of the treatment. All patients anaesthetized by lignocaine infiltration reported it as 'an acceptable procedure' compared to only 71% of the patients treated with EMLA. It cannot be recommended to use EMLA cream as local anaesthetic for curettage of verrucae vulgaris, presumably because the highly keratotic nature of the common warts does not allow sufficient penetration of epicutaneously applied EMLA.

Oral terbinafine in toenail dermatophytosis. A double-blind, placebo-controlled multicenter study with 12 months' follow-up.

The treatment of onychomycosis has previously often been protracted and unsuccessful. Terbinafine has been shown to be effective in short-term regimens. In this double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 148 patients with toenail dermatophytosis were randomized to treatment with either 250 mg terbinafine daily or placebo for 3 months. An additional treatment was given for 3 months to patients whose infection had not responded. The patients were followed clinically and mycologically through 12 months. After 3 months 82% of the terbinafine-treated group, versus 5% of the placebo group, showed significant improvement, i.e. negative culture and growth of unaffected nail more than 2 mm (p = < 0.0001). After 12 months clinical and mycological cure was seen in 40% of the patients treated with terbinafine for 3 or 6 months, while 67-81% were clinically cured, but with positive microscopy. Side-effects occurred in 13.5% of the terbinafine group, versus 5.4% of the placebo group, and were mild. 250 mg terbinafine daily for 3 months was significantly more effective than placebo. The efficacy did not appear to improve with additional treatment for 3 months.