Disseminated juvenile xanthogranuloma associated with follicular lymphoma in an adult: successful treatment with chemotherapy and rituximab. A review of the literature.

Juvenile xanthogranuloma is a non-Langerhans cell histiocytosis that typically affects children, but several cases have been reported in adults, some in connection with hematologic malignancies. We present the case of a 61-year-old woman with multiple xanthogranulomas who developed a follicular lymphoma after 4 years of follow-up. After 6 months of treatment with chemotherapy and rituximab, the cutaneous lesions disappeared and the patient achieved remission from lymphoma. We highlight this case because xanthogranuloma is a rare disorder that is difficult to diagnose in adults and also because this is the first report of an association between xanthogranuloma and follicular lymphoma. Excellent response was achieved with chemotherapy and rituximab. Finally, given the possible association between xanthogranulomas and hematologic diseases, these lesions may be a cutaneous manifestation of an occult malignancy.

Urticarial vasculitis: a retrospective study of 15 cases.

INTRODUCTION: Urticarial vasculitis is a subtype of vasculitis characterized clinically by urticarial lesions and histologically by necrotizing vasculitis. OBJECTIVE: To study the clinical and histologic features of urticarial vasculitis in patients seen in the dermatology department of Hospital Universitario Virgen de Rocío in Seville, Spain, and to examine the association between hypocomplementemia and systemic disease. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We performed a chart review of histologically confirmed cases of urticarial vasculitis in the database of our department covering a period of 10 years. RESULTS: Fifteen patients (9 women and 6 men with a median age of 51 years) were included. In 14 patients (93%), the lesions persisted for more than 24hours, and in 9 cases (60%) the lesions resolved leaving residual purpura or hyperpigmentation. Seven patients (47%) had low complement levels in the blood, 12 (80%) had extracutaneous symptoms, and 8 (53%) had associated systemic disease, the most common of which was systemic lupus erythematosus. CONCLUSIONS: Urticarial vasculitis may be underdiagnosed. Response to treatment is variable, and hypocomplementemia and extracutaneous symptoms may indicate the presence of associated systemic disease.

Inpatient dermatology consultation in a Spanish tertiary care hospital: a prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Although dermatology has traditionally been practiced through outpatient consultation, hospitalized patients often have dermatologic problems. The aim of this study was to describe and quantify the volume of interdepartmental consultation of the dermatology department of Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In this year-long prospective observational cohort study of 429 patients we used a specific data collection form to record information on consultations for patients admitted between July 2010 and June 2011. RESULTS: The 429 consultations over the 12 months of study accounted for 1.56% of all first consultations with a dermatologist during the period. A mean of 1.75 new patients were attended each day. The mean (SD) age of the patients was 52.63 (19) years, and the ratio of men to women was 1.21. Immunocompromised patients accounted for more than a third of the cohort. The medical specialties consulting most often were internal medicine (n=115) and hematology (n=66). The most frequent diagnoses were inflammatory skin conditions (36.2%) and infectious skin diseases (26.5%). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: To date, the role of interdepartmental consultation in dermatology has been little studied. Our results suggest that dermatology plays a fundamental role within the hospital. We have identified the most common skin problems in hospitalized patients and their clinical course.