[Chronic facial ulceration in France and potential involvement of Leishmania infantum cutaneous leishmaniasis]. / Ulcération chronique du visage : penser à une leishmaniose cutanée métropolitaine due à Leishmania infantum.

BACKGROUND: In France, cutaneous leishmaniasis is frequently seen in patients returning from North Africa or South America. Autochthonous leishmaniasis due to Leishmania infantum causes rather visceral forms. Nevertheless, cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by this parasite is occasionally seen in immunocompetent patients who have never been outside France. PATIENTS AND METHODS: An 8-year-old girl living in the Haute-Savoie region and who had never travelled overseas presented with chronic ulceration of the right cheekbone that failed to regress under topical therapy. Laboratory tests demonstrated the presence of L. infantum. Following cryotherapy and intralesional injections of meglumine antimonite, the lesion resolved within a month. The patient's medical history revealed repeated journeys to the Pyrénées-Orientales region of southern France. DISCUSSION: For chronic ulceration on an uncovered area that does not resolve with topical therapy, cutaneous leishmaniasis should be considered in the differential diagnosis even if the patient has never left France. Trips to the South of France (an endemic region) should be sought in the history. In addition to direct examination of the product from curettage of the lesion and histopathology, non-invasive methods such as Western blotting with PCR run on filter paper impressions allow accurate diagnosis.

[Treatment of severe alopecia areata with topical applications of cyclosporin A]. / Traitement des pelades sévères par applications locales de cyclosporine A.

Cyclosporin A (CyA) is a fungal peptide used as immunosuppressor in human organ transplantation. Increased hair growth appears to be a common side-effect of treatment, occurring in almost all patients treated with oral CyA. The development of hypertrichosis during CyA administration is not hormone-dependent; it may be mediated by a direct effect of the drug on the hair growth process. We used CyA topically (5 p. 100 oily solution) in 14 patients with severe alopecia areata (totalis 5, ophiasis 3, bald plaques 6). The drug was applied on the alopecia twice a day for 5 +/- 1.5 months. Patients were examined monthly. No clinical adverse effect was observed. Routine blood examination did not show any change, except for a transient increase of hepatic enzymes in one patient. CyA determinations were performed monthly by radioimmunoassay. No CyA was detected in the patients' serum. Treatment resulted in no regrowth in 8 patients, development of vellus hair in 3 patients (alopecia areata totalis 2, ophiasis 1) at the end of therapy, and normal hair growth in 3 patients with bald plaques. We may conclude that CyA is capable of inducing regrowth of hair when applied topically. However, the drug does not seem to be useful for the treatment of alopecia areata.