Laser hair removal after surgery vs. surgery alone for the treatment of pilonidal cysts: a retrospective case-control study.

BACKGROUND: Based on the presumed role of hair in pilonidal cyst (PNC) pathogenesis, laser epilation has been used to decrease recurrences. However, most of the data rely on case reports and uncontrolled series, and the rare controlled studies reported conflicting results. The objective of this study was to investigate the efficacy of laser hair removal (LHR) to decrease the recurrence rate after surgery of PNC vs. surgery alone. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective monocentric case-control study in the departments of Pediatric Surgery and Laser Center of Dermatology of the University Hospital of Nice in France from January 2010 to June 2017. We included all patients with PNC who had surgery during the period, and we compared patients who had LHR after surgery to those having surgery alone. The main outcome was the prevalence and number of recurrences of PNC in each group. RESULTS: Twelve patients - eight treated with alexandrite laser and four patients with Nd : YAG - were included in the cases group; 29 patients treated with surgery alone were included in the control group. The mean and the median number of laser sessions were 4.2 and 5, respectively (extremes 1-10). The postsurgical recurrence rate without LHR was 51.7%, and their number varied from 1 to 3. A significant decrease in the recurrence rate was observed after LHR (8.3%) compared to control group (P < 0.001). The median duration before recurrence was 14 months for surgery alone. The median follow-up was 18 months (1-30 months) for LHR group and 30 months (6-72 months) for surgery alone group. Two patients had abnormal healing or persistent sinus after surgery alone compared to none in the group who undergone laser procedure after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Laser hair removal decreases the risk of delayed healing and of recurrences of PNL after surgical procedure.

Granulomatous rosacea: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Granulomatous rosacea is a rare chronic inflammatory skin disease with an unknown origin. The role of Demodex follicularum in its pathogenesis is currently proved. CASE PRESENTATION: We report a case of a 54-year-old Moroccan man with a 3-month history of erythematous, nonpruritic papules on the lateral side around the eyes. Dermoscopy and histology confirmed the diagnosis of granulomatous rosacea. CONCLUSIONS: We describe another clinical presentation of granulomatous rosacea with a clinical-dermoscopic-pathological correlation.

Dermoscopy of Pigmented Actinic Keratosis of the Face: A Study of 232 Cases.

The diagnosis of pigmented actinic keratosis (PAK) is often challenging because of overlapping features with lentigo maligna. OBJECTIVE: To investigate dermoscopic patterns of PAK according to their different evolutionary stages, and to correlate the pattern with clinical characteristics of the patients. METHODS: Descriptive and analytical study of 232 PAK. Dermoscopic patterns were divided into two categories: the follicule surroundings' abnormalities (FSA) and follicular keratosis' abnormalities (FKA). RESULTS: FSA and FKA dermoscopic patterns were related to male gender, except for star-like appearance, double white clods and dermoscopic horn (p≤0.04). Rhomboidal, annular granular pattern, gray halo, white circle and double clods were dermoscopic pattern significantly related to xeroderma pigmentosum's type of skin. Based on the evolutionary stages of PAK, the jelly sign was significantly related to thin patches of PAK. Central crusts and scales were related to thick plaques and the star-like appearance to hypertrophic PAK. The presence of 2 or more dermoscopic signs in both FSA and FKA was noticed in 99.1% of lesions. CONCLUSIONS: The dermoscopic diagnosis of PAK vary according to the evolutionary stages of the disease, this will increase the diagnosis accuracy, with therapeutic implications.

Defining the mimics and clinico-histological diagnosis criteria for mycosis fungoides to minimize misdiagnosis.

BACKGROUND: Mycosis fungoides (MF) is a significant diagnostic challenge; it has various differential diagnosis especially at an early stage. Our aim was to describe mimics of MF clinically and histologically, and to define significant diagnostic criteria of the disease. METHODS: This was a retro-prospective cohort of 370 patients in whom the diagnosis of MF was suspected clinically. RESULTS: MF was histologically confirmed in 15.4% of cases and rejected in 84.5%. Other identified histologically diagnosis were eczema, psoriasis; nonspecific dermatitis, lichen, lupus; pseudolymphoma, parapsoriasis and toxidermia. 4 patients with palmoplantar MF were wrongly treated as eczema, and 10 patients with psoriasiform MF were initially treated as psoriasis. We also described the clinical, histological and immunohistochemistry diagnostic criteria for distinguishing MF from benign dermatosis. CONCLUSIONS: Misdiagnosis of MF was a real problem for this study, because it shared common clinical and histological characteristics with other inflammatory diseases like eczema and psoriasis. Therefore, defining significant clinico-histological diagnosis criteria of MF would be of great help and would increase the accuracy of the diagnosis.

[Erythema nodosum due to tinea]. / L'érythème noueux, une complication des teignes à Trichophyton mentagrophytes.

UNLABELLED: Erythema nodosum (EN) is the most common clinical and pathological variant of panniculitis. A Celsus kerion is an inflammatory and suppurative tinea of the scalp. We report on a rare case of EN secondary to a kerion of the scalp. OBSERVATION: A 9-year-old child without a notable medical history, had a squamous plaque of the vertex for 15 days, which became painful and purulent. Five days after the plaque appeared, he presented with painful, hot, erythematous lesions symmetrically on the extensor surfaces of the legs and forearms. A medical examination found a fever of 38.5°C, a squamous purulent and crusty plate of the vertex (6/5cm) with pustules and a few hairs cut short, and symmetrical painful erythematous hot nodules on the anterior surfaces of the two legs and forearms. A mycological sample of the crusts of the scalp lesion confirmed the presence of Trichophyton mentagrophytes. A bacteriological sample was not taken, and a skin biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of EN. The results of other paraclinical investigations were normal. The diagnosis of EN secondary to an inflammatory scalp tinea was established, and our patient was prescribed an orally and locally administered antimycotic, rest, and elevation of the limbs. DISCUSSION: EN is an acute nodular hypodermitis considered a nonspecific hypersensitive reaction to various allergens. Rarely, it can occur secondary to a fungal infection of the scalp such as a kerion or even secondary to the antifungal treatment of this tinea. EN secondary to a kerion of the scalp before the beginning of antifungal treatment has been reported in the literature, with a spontaneous improvement of the EN after treatment of the tinea.