Livedoid vasculopathy and popliteal artery occlusion in a patient with protein S deficiency.

Livedoid vasculopathy (LV) is a chronic disease with recurrent reticularis and ulcers, mainly affecting the feet and lower legs. The pathogenesis of LV has not been yet thoroughly understood, but thrombosis is thought to play a major role because fibrin deposition within both the wall and lumen of affected vessels is pathologically detected. A 68-year-old woman first presented to our hospital in 2004 with a 6-year history of a reticular rash and ulceration on the lower legs. Screening tests for vasculitis and collagen disease were mostly normal, leading to diagnosis of LV. After failed treatment with steroid and aspirin, she was started on warfarin, to which she had a favorable response. However, she had to be admitted to the hospital because complication of swelling and infection in her left lower leg in 2004 + 10. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography showed thrombosis in the left popliteal artery. Screening tests for thrombotic tendency revealed that protein S activity was low (27%) although total protein S antigen was within normal range (73%). Analysis of protein S-alpha gene revealed 155 Lys>Glu mutation in exon VI, which was reported in 1994 and named as protein S Tokushima. Thus, we conclude that protein S deficiency could contribute to LV.

Comparison of the efficacy of ALA-PDT using an excimer-dye laser (630 nm) and a metal-halide lamp (600 to 740 nm) for treatment of Bowen's disease.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Topical 5-aminolevulinic acid-based photodynamic therapy (ALA-PDT) is an effective treatment for Bowen's disease (BD). In order to compare the efficacy of two different light sources, using either an excimer-dye laser (EDL) (630 nm) or a metal-halide lamp (MHL) (600 to 740 nm) a protocol for topical ALA-PDT for treatment of BD of the extremities was established, and responses during 12 months follow-up were assessed. METHODS: From 25 patients a total of 26 lesions that had been histopathologically diagnosed as BD from 2005 to 2010 in the Department of Dermatology at the Aichi Medical University Hospital were randomly selected. The light source used for the topical ALA-PDT was EDL in 17 lesions and MHL in 9 lesions. The photosensitizing protoporphyrin IX that is produced within BD lesions 4 h after application of 20% ALA cream was mostly consumed after exposure to 100 J/cm(2) irradiation using 630 nm EDL. Each lesion was irradiated once a week for 3 weeks, for a total dosage of 300 J/cm(2) (100 mW/cm(2)). Patients were followed up clinically every 3 months for 12 months, and at 1 month after the final treatment lesions were evaluated histopathologically. RESULTS: Histologically, the complete response (CR) rate at 1-month follow-up was 82% (14/17 lesions) in the EDL treatment group and 100% (9/9 lesions) in the MHL treatment group (P > 0.05). The recurrence rate at 12 months after PDT was 46% (6/13 lesions, one patient lost to follow-up) in the EDL group and 0% in the MHL group (P < 0.05) (χ(2) test with Fisher's exact test). The average period before recurrence after EDL treatment was 6.5 months. CONCLUSION: A novel protocol for topical ALA-PDT in Japanese in Asian patients with BD was developed and implemented. The protocol improved the CR rate compared with previous studies. Moreover, the present results indicate that the efficacy of topical ALA-PDT using MHL was superior to that using EDL for BD patients.