Serum Zinc Levels in Cutaneous Disorders.

Serum zinc levels were studied in 75 patients of different cutaneous disorders and 24 healthy controls. It was found to be significantly lower in acne vulgaris (71.5 ± 21.5µgm/100ml), leprosy(85.9 ± 26.9µgm/100ml) and psoriasis (93.3 ± 25.9µgm/100ml) as compared to healthy controls (105.3 ± 30.1µgm/100ml). No significant correlation was found in other cutaneous disorders studied i.e. vitiligo and aphthous ulcers where serum zinc levels were found to be 97.3 ± 26.6 µgm/100ml and 105.2 ± 23.5 µgm/100ml respectively.

Clinical and bacteriological study of urethral discharge.

A clinics-bacteriological study of 52 patients with urethritis was carried out. All the patients were evaluated clinically and bacteriologically at the beginning and end of the treatment. Majority of the patients belonged to the age group 21-30 years (58%). Incidence of gonococcal urethritis was 65% and Non gonococcal Urethritis (NGU) 35%. The common organisms causing NGU were chlamydia (28%) ureaplasma (11%) and mycoplasma (11%). Neisseria gonorrhoea was resistant to penicillin in (38%), ciprolloxacin in 67, and to noriloxaein in 6% cases. High incidence of HIV positivity was found in gonorrhoea (21%).

Hiv infection in patients of sexually transmitted disease.

A total of 1027 male patients suffering from sexually transmitted diseases (STD) during 1990 to 1996 were screened for HIV infection. All cases were in the age group 17 years to 48 years. One hundred and sixty-seven STD cases (16.3%) were found to have HIV infection. A rising trend in incidence of HIV infection in STD patients from 1990 (2.8%) to 1996 (27.8%) was noticed countrary to declining trend of STDs from 213 cases in 1990 to 79 cases in 1996. The incidence of HIV infection was 30.3% in lymphogranuloma venereum, 19.5% in chancroid, 13.5% in syphilis, 17.6% in herpes genitatis, 6.7% in gonorrhoea and 11.2% in other STD cases.

Pattern of skin diseases in paediatric age group and adolescents.

A total of 300 patients from first day of life to 17 years of age were analysed for pattern of skin disorders. School going children formed majority (41.3%) of cases followed by preschool children (32%). Infections formed the commonest disorder (31 %) followed by eczemas (24%), papulosquamous disorders (12%), infestation (8.6%) and urticaria (5.3%) while vitiligo, acne vulgaris, alopecia areata and genodermatoses were seen in 2.7% cases each.

A study of dermatological disorders in geriatric age group.

A total of 320 patients of more than 60 years of age were studied for dermatological changes with aging. The male female ratio of patients was 3:1. Majority of cases (60.6%) were between 60-65 years of age. Pruritus was present in 37.5% cases, wrinkles in 82.1%, senile lentigenes in 57.8%, seborrhoeic keratosis in 48.8%, cherry angioma in 48.1%, idiopathic guttate hypomelanosis in 43%, skin tags in 37%, xerosis in 28%, comedones in 19%, infection and infestation in 40%, eczematous disorders in 36.9%, papulosquamous disorders in 10%, metabolic disorders in 16%, pigmentary disorders in 8.7%, keratinisation disorders in 4.1%, vesiculobullous disorders in 2.8% and associated systemic disorders in 49.7% cases.

Concurrent leprosy and HIV infection: a report of three cases.

Three cases of concurrent infection with HIV and leprosy are reported. One had developed borderline lepromatous leprosy one year after identifying HIV infection, while the other two had indeterminate leprosy and both conditions were identified at the same time in these two patients. All three cases showed satisfactory response to standard antileprosy multidrug therapy.

A comparative study of liver function tests in patients of chronic liver disorders with and without cutaneous manifestations.

Forty six cases of chronic liver disorders with and without cutaneous manifestations were studied for abnormalities of liver function tests. 27 cases were associated with cutaneous manifestations and 19 cases without cutaneous manifestations. A higher serum bilirubin level was seen in all cases with cutaneous manifestations. Serum bilirubin was significantly high (P<0.05) in patients of chronic active hepatitis with cutaneous manifestations. Serum alkaline phosphatase and serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase (SGPT) levels were significantly high in chronic active hepatitis and alcoholic liver disease without cutaneous manifestations respectively.

Pattern of skin diseases among civil population and armed forces personnel at Pune.

The pattern of skin disorders among 11393 civil and 8123 defence service personnel who attended out-patient department (OPD) from January 1989 to December 1994 is presented. Infective dermatoses were more common in civil population (41.2%) as compared to defence service personnel (36.3%). Fungal infection was common in both groups (15.1% and 17.2%) whereas parasitic infestations and pyoderma were more common in civil population (12.8% and 6.1%) as compared to service personnel (7.8% and 3.6%). Among non-infective dermatoses eczemas were more common in civil population (17.3%) as compared to Armed Forces personnel (11.7%), whereas papulosquamous disorders, pigmentary disorders, acne and alopecia were more common in Armed Forces personnel (13.5%, 13.4% 8.7% and 6.2%) as compared to civil population (10.8%, 10.1%, 6.4% and 4.1%). The incidence of other skin disorders did not differ much between the two groups.

Pyoderma gangrenosum in HIV patient.

Pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) has previously been reported in very few patients with HIV infection. We describe here a 30-year-old housewife with HIV infection having multiple ulcerations over lower limbs characteristic of PG.

Herpes zoster in patients with HIV infection.

Five hundred twenty seven HIV seropositive male cases were observed for herpes zoster for a period of five years. Overall incidence of herpes zoster in HIV infection was found to be 11.8%. Herpes zoster was presenting symptom in 50% cases. It developed in first year of follow up in 38.8% cases, in second and third year of follow up in 4.8% cases each and in fourth year in 1.6% case. Majority of cases (89%) were in age group of 20 - 40 years. Thoracic dermatome (68%) was commonest to get involved followed by cervical (14.5%), trigeminal (9.7%) and lumbosacral (8%). Among other associations of HIV seropositive herpes zoster cases 24.2% cases had tuberculosis and 4.8% cases had hepatitis B virus infection. The skin lesions of herpes zoster in majority of cases were bullous, haemorrhagic and necrotic.

Paediatric HIV infection.

Four cases of HIV infection in children between one to eight years of age are reported. Three were males and the other one female. One child was horn to known HIV infected mother. The female child was victim of sexual abuse and had disseminated tuberculosis with syphilis and gonorrhoea. Other two children were having systemic as well as dermatological disorders for which HIV test was done and found positive.

Cervical canal stenosis masquerading as neuritis in a case of borderline tuberculoid leprosy.

A 40-year old male presented with typical features of leprosy borderline tuberculoid (BT) type. During the course of treatment, he developed neurological features which were initially attributed to neuritis. However, these features progressed despite antileprosy treatment. Detailed investigations revealed compressive myelopathy due to cervical canal stenosis. He was managed successfully with appropriate surgical treatment.

Study of blood groups in HIV seropositive patients.

Blood groups in 104 cases of HIV infection and 300 normal persons were determined. A relatively increased incidence of HIV infection was observed in persons with blood group O and relativey lower incidence in blood group B. Incidence of HIV infection was also low in Rh negative subjects. These results suggest a possible relationship between the incidence of blood group and the natural defence mechanism against HIV infection.

A clinico-pathological study of macular lesions in leprosy.

One hundred twenty histologically confirmed cases of leprosy having macular lesions were evaluated clinically and histopathologically according to Ridley-Jopling classification. Of these 120 cases, the majority (91 or 75.8%) were young adults. The main clinical findings were: a single macule in 42 patients (35%), multiple macules 2-5 in numbers in 35 patients (29.1%), 6-10 macules in 17 patients (14.1%) and more than 10 macules in 26 patients (21.6%). Impairment of sensation over the macular lesions was present in 62 cases (51.6%), total loss of sensation was noticed in 31 patients (25.8%) and sensation was intact in 27 patients (22.5%). Acid-fast bacilli were detected in 11 cases (9.1%) by slit-skin smear examination. Clinical examination of the 120 cases revealed features of TT in 16 (13.3%), BT in 41 (34.1%), BB in 11 (9.1%), BL in 13 (10.8%), LL in 7 (5.8%) and indeterminate leprosy (IL) in 32 patients (26.6%). On the contrary, histologically there were 22 cases of TT (18.3%), 38 cases of BT (31.6%), 8 (6.5%) BB, 10 BL (8.3%), 7 LL (5.8%) and 35 cases of IL (29.1%). Histopathological features were consistent with the clinical picture in 84 patients (70%).