[Gamasoidosis caused by Dermanyssusgallinae]. / Prurigo à Dermanyssusgallinae.

INTRODUCTION: Mite parasites can be transmitted from animals to humans and cause prurigo. OBSERVATION: We describe a case of mite transmission in a 75-year-old woman referred for pruritus and erythematous maculopapular rash. On clinical examination mites were seen on the patient's skin. The mites were collected and characterized using microscopy. The species was identified as Dermanyssusgallinae, also known as the poultry red mite, an ectoparasite that commonly infests bird nests. The source of the patient's contamination was her henhouse, where mites were found in the wooden beams. Molecular analysis by mitochondrial DNA sequencing was performed on a mite collected from the patient and on a mite collected from the henhouse. This analysis confirmed that both belonged to the D. gallinaes.str species, and that the source of contamination was poultry farming. CONCLUSION: This case describes transmission to a human of the mite D. gallinaes.str via hens, resulting in prurigo, as confirmed by morphological and molecular analysis.

[Incidence of skin and non-skin cancers in Afro-Caribbean renal transplant recipients: Guadeloupe data from 2004 to 2011]. / Incidence des cancers cutanés et non cutanés chez les transplantés rénaux afro-caribéens : données guadeloupéennes de 2004 à 2011.

BACKGROUND: Cancer is the main complication of transplantation surgery. The literature concerning renal transplant recipients among the Afro-Caribbean population is scant. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of cancer in these patients, with the secondary objective being to identify predisposing factors for cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This was an epidemiological and retrospective study that included all Guadeloupians of phototype V-VI undergoing renal transplantation from 01/01/2004 to 31/12/2011. Skin cancer screening was performed before transplantation and during an annual dermatological consultation following transplantation. Screening for non-cutaneous cancers was guided by clinical symptoms or by the results of the screening examinations recommended in the current guidelines. At the study time-point (31/12/2011), all patients were examined by a dermatologist. RESULTS: One hundred and two patients were included : 42 women and 60 men (mean age: 52.1±11.6 years at transplantation). Eight cancers were diagnosed. The cumulative incidence of cancer was 7.8% at 3 years. Three factors were associated with more rapid onset of cancer: personal history or familial history of cancer, and genital lesion induced by HPV. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest a low incidence of cancer in Afro-Caribbean renal transplant patients. Personal or family history of cancer and HPV-induced genital lesions would appear to accelerate the onset of cancer in this population.

[Terra firma-forme dermatosis]. / Dermatose « en terre sèche ¼ (« terra firma-forme ¼).

BACKGROUND: Terra firma-forme (i.e. resembling dry earth) is a condition chiefly affecting children wrongly considered as dermatosis arising out of negligence and inadequate corporal hygiene. It is in fact an acquired and asymptomatic grey-brown hyperpigmentation of the skin that persists despite normal washing with soap and water, but which subsides on rubbing with isopropyl alcohol 70%. Herein we report 10 new cases of this disorder. OBSERVATIONS: Ten patients aged between 7 months in 17 years were seen for acquired macular skin pigmentation, either brown or grey, fragmented and confluent. In six patients, this abnormality was the main reason for the consultation, generally on aesthetic grounds, and more rarely for diagnosis or suspicion of acanthosis nigricans. In all cases, questioning revealed normal hygiene measures. The condition comprised macular or acquired papular pigmentation, either brown or grey, of bilateral and symmetrical disposition and electively affecting the neck, trunk and retro-malleolar area of the ankles. Clinical examination together with a test involving rubbing with isopropyl alcohol 70° confirmed the diagnosis, revealing healthy underlying skin. DISCUSSION: Terra firma-forme dermatosis is frequently seen in clinical practice but is largely ignored in the French literature, possibly because of relevant indifference towards the condition. It affects both sexes equally, with no predilection for age or ethnicity, although it is classically seen to a greater extent during adolescence. Diagnosis of the condition, which is easily made thanks to the hyperpigmentation of dirty brown appearance on the neck and the ankles in particular, should not mislead the practitioner into blaming patients for supposedly deficient body hygiene. Knowledge of this form of dermatosis is useful because of its potentially harmful aesthetic and social effects, despite the ease of treatment by insistent rubbing of the affected areas with medical alcohol or ether. Early recognition also avoids pointless additional investigations associated with differential diagnosis in relation to various other acquired or hereditary dermatoses involving brown or grey pigmentation.