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Background: Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) is a dermatosis with a significant psychological component. Only a few studies have assessed the quality of life (QoL) and perceived stress in CSU patients. Objectives: To evaluate the QoL and perceived stress in patients with CSU. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was done on 54 patients of CSU attending the Urticaria clinic of the Dermatology department in a tertiary care postgraduate teaching hospital in North Kerala. QoL in chronic urticaria was assessed using the Chronic Urticaria-Quality of Life (CU-QoL) questionnaire and perceived stress was assessed using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Results: The mean scores of CU-QoL and PSS were 55.78 and 16.31, respectively. Out of 54 patients, 26 (48.1%) had mild impairment, 26 (48.1%) had moderate impairment, and 2 (3.7%) had severe impairment of QoL. Low stress was seen in 20 (37%) patients, moderate stress in 28 (51.9%), and six (11.1%) patients had high stress. Conclusion: This study shows that more than half of the patients with CSU had moderate to severe impairment of QoL and had moderate to severe stress.
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BACKGROUND: Recent studies indicate an upsurge of primary cutaneous lymphoma (PCL) in the Indian population. Of late, we too have come across varied presentations of PCL in relatively younger individuals. Hence, we decided to study the clinical and immunohistological profile of patients with PCL in our department. METHODS: All cases diagnosed as PCL from October 2016 to October 2019 were included. Clinical details, complete blood count, peripheral smear, imaging, histopathology, and immunohistochemistry of skin specimens were analyzed. Lymph node biopsy and bone marrow studies were done in most cases. Human T lymphotropic virus-1 (HTLV1) serology was done in 10 cases. RESULTS: Of the 24 patients with PCL, 12 were below 50 years of age. Twenty-three patients (95.8%) had T-cell lymphoma and only one had B-cell PCL. Mycosis fungoides (MF) (n = 17; 71%) was the most common type of PCL. There were two (8.3%) cases each of adult T-cell lymphoma/leukemia (ATLL) and Sezary syndrome. MF had varied clinical morphology at presentation and variable clinical outcomes. Both cases of ATLL had features of immunosuppression in the form of infective dermatoses. CONCLUSION: We observed an increased proportion of T-cell type of PCL, with the age of onset being relatively early. HTLV-1 positivity was noted in three out of the 10 cases tested. More studies are needed to determine the factors responsible for the younger age of onset of PCL and the role of HTLV-1 infection in the development of PCL.
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CONTEXT: Lepra reactions if not managed promptly are an important cause of sudden onset nerve palsy and disability due to leprosy. AIM: To evaluate the usefulness of histology in predicting type 1 lepra reaction. SETTING AND DESIGN: After obtaining clearance from institutional research and ethics committees, all histologically proven borderline tuberculoid patients diagnosed at our center from 1.8.2016 to 31.7.2018 were included in this retrospective cross-sectional study. METHOD: Clinical details were collected from patient records. The pathologist who was blinded to clinical evidence of type 1 lepra reaction at the time of biopsy re-evaluated the histopathology slides for evidence of type 1 reaction. The data of individual patient was analyzed to identify those who had a type 1 reaction at the time of the biopsy or who developed a lepra reaction during follow up. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Association between histological evidence of type 1 reaction and clinical manifestation of the same subsequently, was assessed using Pearson's Chi square test. RESULTS: Study group comprised of 22 females and 18 males. Clinicohistological concordance was noted in 27 patients (67.5%). Subclinical type 1 reaction was documented in 11 patients (27.5%) based on histopathology evaluation. Five (45.5%) of these 11 patients subsequently developed clinical features of type 1 reaction. This was found to be statistically significant (P value 0.02). LIMITATIONS: Main limitation was the small sample size. CONCLUSIONS: Histology could serve as a useful tool in predicting future type 1 lepra reaction.
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Objetivos: 1. Evaluar la immunohistoquimica de los granulomas de la lepra en las muestras de biopsias cutáneas de pacientes con lepra tuberculoide y lepromatosa, con respecto a la presencia y distribución de células T CD4+, CD8+ y CD28+, células CD 68+ y células CD1a+. 2. Evaluar los hallazgos inmunohistoquimicos observados en leprorreacciones. Metodología: Estudio descriptivo. Se seleccionaron para el estudio biopsias cutaneas, en las que se había diagnosticado clínica e histopatologicamente lepra entre el 1.8.2016 al 31.5.2017 en el Instituto Medico Gubernamental, Kozhikode. Se estudió la immunohistoquimica de las lesiones cutáneas en lepra y leprorreacciones, observando específicamente la distribución de células CD4/ CD8/ CD28/ CD68/ CD1a en la lepra en distintos escenarios. Resultados: En el estudio se incluyeron veintiséis casos tuberculoides y 14 lepromatosos. Todos los granulomas independientemente del tipo de enfermedad presentaron tinción positiva por CD4 y CD68. Dos de los 14 casos lepromatosos (14・3%), y 15/26 (57・7%) de las muestras tuberculoides presentaron expresion CD4 de moderada a fuerte. Se detectó negatividad CD28 en cuatro casos tuberculoides (15・4%) y en 10 lepromatosos (71・4%). La expresion CD4 moderada a fuerte se detectó en más del 70% de los T1R incremento mientras que en los demás grupos solo fue de 20%-50%. Más del 80% de las T1R estáticas e incremento presentaban positividad CD28, mayor de que el 30%-50% registrado en otros grupos. Conclusiones: Los resultados revelan que la inmunohistoquimica tiene un papel en aclarar los complejos procesos inmunológicos empleados en la lepra y las leprorreacciones
Objectives: 1. To study the immunohistochemistry of leprosy granulomas in the skin biopsy specimens of patients with tuberculoid and lepromatous leprosy, with respect to the presence and arrangement of CD4+, CD8+ and CD28+ T cells, CD 68+ cells and CD1a+ cells. 2. To study the immunohistochemistry findings observed in leprosy reactions. Design: Descriptive study. Skin biopsies in which the clinical and histopathological diagnosis of leprosy was reported between 1.8.2016 to 31.5.2017 in the Government Medical College, Kozhikode, were selected for the study. Immunohistochemistry of the skin lesions in leprosy and leprosy reactions was studied, looking specifically for the distribution of CD4/ CD8/ CD28/ CD68/ CD1a positive cells in leprosy at different scenarios. Results: Twenty-six tuberculoid and 14 lepromatous cases were included in the study. All granulomas irrespective of disease type showed positive staining for CD4 and CD68. Two of the 14 lepromatous leprosy cases (14・3%), and 15/26 (57・7%) tuberculoid specimens manifested moderate to strong CD4 expression. CD28 negativity was documented in four tuberculoid (15・4%) and 10 lepromatous cases (71・4%). Moderate to strong CD4 expression was noted in more than 70% of upgrading T1R while a similar finding was documented in only 20%-50% of other groups. More than 80% of static and upgrading T1R showed CD28 positivity, which was higher than the 30%-50% positivity recorded in other groups. Conclusions: The observations of the current study indicate a role for immunohistochemistry analysis in delineating the complex immunological processes involved in leprosy and leprosy reactions
