Cutaneous lupus erythematosus: Reflecting on practice-changing observations over the past 50 years.

Several historical observations have led to the current understanding of the diagnosis, evaluation, and management of patients with cutaneous lupus erythematosus. Seminal advances in the management of this disease include the development of a classification system for cutaneous lupus, the use of a validated scoring system to assess patient disease activity, and expansion of knowledge of the action spectrum of this disease; further, observations regarding certain medications as potential causes of subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus, the risk of progression from "pure" cutaneous disease to systemic disease, and traditional versus newer therapies are reviewed with closer inspection.

"PRE-COLUMBIAN MOULAGES". HUACOS, MUMMIES AND PHOTOGRAPHS IN THE INTERNATIONAL CONTROVERSY OVER PRECOLUMBIAN DISEASES, 1894-1910.

By the late nineteenth century an international controversy arose referred to the probable existence of certain diseases such as leprosy, syphilis and lupus in pre-Columbian America. Led by the American physician Albert Sidney Ashmead (1850-1911), it brought together scholars from Europe and the Americas. In this context, certain types of Peruvian archaeological pottery and "mummies", along with series of photographs illustrating the effects of these diseases in contemporary patients, met a prominent role as comparative evidence. In this article we analyze how this type of collections were used as evidence in the debates about pathologies of the past, an issue that from a historical standpoint have received considerably little attention.

The 100th anniversary of lupus erythematosus tumidus.

In 1909, the term "lupus erythematodes tumidus" was first introduced by the German Dermatologist E. Hoffmann. The next case reports of lupus erythematosus tumidus (LET) were not described until 1930, and in the following years, only a few further cases were reported. This might have been due to the fact that authors have not considered LET as a separate entity different from other variants of cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE), and it is likely that skin lesions described under different designations represent the same disease entity. Therefore, LET has been underestimated and neglected in the literature and has been characterized by clinical, histopathological, and immunohistochemical features only in recent years. In particular, phototesting has been crucial in defining LET as a very photosensitive entity of CLE. Up to now, more than 40 reports of LET have been published demonstrating that the course and prognosis of LET are generally more favorable than in other subtypes of CLE. A new classification system, including LET as the intermittent subtype of CLE (ICLE) has been suggested. On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the first description of LET, we have reviewed the literature and provide here an overview on the different aspects of the disease.

The history of lupus erythematosus.

This article explores the history of lupus erythematosus from the origins of the name to the most modern therapeutic advances. The review includes information about the origin of the name "lupus," the first clear description of the skin lesions, the discovery of the systemic and discoid forms, and further advances which define our current view of this illness. The classical descriptions of Hippocrates, Paracelsus, Manardi, Rudolph Virchow, Cazenave, Robert Willan, and Moritz Kaposi are chronologically described. Later, the contributions of Sir William Osler, Jonathan Hutchinson, Sequira and Balean, Kraus and Bohac, Libman and Sacks, Malcolm Hargraves, and Edmund L. Dubois are highlighted. The major breakthroughs of the modern period, including the diagnostic tests, animal models, and genetics, are briefly described. The article ends with the history of drug-induced lupus, diagnostic criteria, and the history of the therapy of lupus erythematosus. With modern therapeutic advances, the mortality rate from lupus erythematosus has decreased substantially. It is hoped that current research will further improve the prognosis of this disease in the near future.

Early history and iconography of lupus erythematosus.

In analyzing the history of a certain disease, not only must the particular disease be investigated, but related pathological conditions that exist in a population at a given time must also be addressed. Also, the prevalence of other diseases should be explored, which may have a bearing on the problem under discussion. The history of medicine can help in this respect, revealing the circumstances or the environment when certain diseases (dis)appeared. Terminology must also be explored, and is the point with which we will begin. With regard to lupus, this again is the case (Latin for wolf; lykos ___ in Greek). Taboo and fantasy border semantics because in the naming of the wolf, the image of "tearing apart" or "pulling or ripping off" (a destructive phenomenon) comes into play. Even the Sanskrit word allows such a relation (v_ik, varkate, v_íkah [symbols: see text]). As a consequence, processes of various origin but characterized by ulceration or necrosis (neoplastic, infectious, traumatic, etc), were labeled lupus before the mid-19th century, and no specific pathogenesis was implied. This resulted in considerable confusion, as the books of Willan, Alibert, Cazenave, Schedeland, Hebra, and others prove. We see no purpose in delving further into the history of ulcerative lesions and what was understood early on to be their presumed cause, eg, back to Paracelsus and to the Old Testament ("shekhin" [see text] Hebrew, meaning "ulcer"); or, "cancer," another such descriptive term relating to destruction, taken from the Greek).

The men behind the eponym: Francis E. Senear, Barney Usher, and the Senear-Usher syndrome.

This historical review will summarize the report of Francis Senear and Barney Usher on a disease that they called pemphigus erythematodes and which later became pemphigus erythematosus (the Senear-Usher syndrome). It will then outline the lives of these two men. Finally, it will review the literature on that condition and relate the views of various authorities as to whether pemphigus erythematosus is merely pemphigus foliaceus, a variant of pemphigus foliaceus, a syndrome combining features of lupus erythematosus and pemphigus or whether pemphigus erythematosus (Senear-Usher syndrome) is a distinct and separate disease.

Phototesting and photoprotection in LE.

Photosensitivity and induction of skin lesions following UV radiation is a common problem of patients with cutaneous and systemic forms of lupus erythematosus. The detrimental effect of UV radiation to patients with lupus erythematosus was already recognized in the last century. Skin lesions can now be provoked under standardized conditions allowing the diagnosis and classification of patients with photosensitive disorders. The aim of this review is to give an overview on the history, test procedure and test results in patients with lupus erythematosus.