Painful lesion in the forearm of a child traveller.

In this article, we intend to discuss a case of cutaneous myiasis in a British child traveller who recently travelled to Somaliland. A Cordylobia anthropophaga larva was identified as the species that caused the disease. The case report, which contains a video illustration of the causative agent, proved a diagnostic challenge at presentation.

Case for diagnosis. Erythematous and pruritic papules on forearms.

Gamasoidosis is a poorly known and underdiagnosed mite infestation. It is characterized by the presence of erythematous and flattened papules that are quite pruritic, and can affect any region of the body, with preference for areas of folds. This article reports a case of the disease caused by mites of the species Dermanyssus gallinae. Increasingly, the agents that cause this disease are found in urban environments, increasing the incidence of people affected by the disease. This dermatosis has a self-limiting clinical picture and the treatment is done with the use of topical corticosteroids and oral antihistamines.

Case for diagnosis. Erythematous and pruritic papules on forearms

Abstract Gamasoidosis is a poorly known and underdiagnosed mite infestation. It is characterized by the presence of erythematous and flattened papules that are quite pruritic, and can affect any region of the body, with preference for areas of folds. This article reports a case of the disease caused by mites of the species Dermanyssus gallinae. Increasingly, the agents that cause this disease are found in urban environments, increasing the incidence of people affected by the disease. This dermatosis has a self-limiting clinical picture and the treatment is done with the use of topical corticosteroids and oral antihistamines.

Diagnostic Disparity in Solitary Cysticercosis of the Forearm in a Child.

Solitary cysticercosis of muscle is a rare disease causing diagnostic dilemma. Cysticercosis commonly affects the central nervous system and other tissues by dissemination imposing a serious health problem. We report this rare presentation of solitary cysticercosis of flexor digitorum superficialis in a five year old otherwise healthy child. The fine needle aspiration cytology and histopathological diagnosis were inconclusive but ultrasonography of the muscle clinched the diagnosis.

Learning and orientation to odor in the bug Rhodnius prolixus Stal 1859 under laboratory conditions.

Two experiments are described investigating learning and orientation in the triatomine Rhodnius prolixus. In experiment 1, Pavlovian conditioning was investigated. The experiment differed from our previous work in that the intensity of the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli were reduced and the number of training trials increased. Once again, no evidence for Pavlovian conditioning was found. In experiment 2, an "orientation arena" was developed in which the orientation of R. prolixus to a human forearm was investigated when an area of the forearm was impregnated with the odor of ruda or almizcle compared to a forearm with no odor. The various paths of the animal from the bottom of the arena until ascending and piercing the forearm, located at the top of the arena, was scored using a grid system and videotaped. The results indicated that under the no odor condition R. prolixus predominately travels in a straight line from the bottom of the arena to the top where the forearm is located. In contrast, the most variable number of paths occurred with exposure to ruda. Exposure to almizcle elicited straight line paths but other paths were evident, although not as variable as that observed with ruda.

High-frequency ultrasound of skin involvement in systemic sclerosis reflects oedema, extension and severity in early disease.

OBJECTIVE: The aim was to compare skin assessment by palpation and by high-frequency ultrasound in patients with SSc with disease duration <2 yrs. METHODS: Skin thickness and skin echogenicity were measured by 20 MHz ultrasound at five different anatomical sites in 106 individuals within 2 yrs from the first non-Raynaud's symptom and compared with the modified Rodnan skin score (mRss). RESULTS: The patients with short disease duration were characterized by high skin thickness and low skin echogenicity, which correlated inversely, reflecting oedema. Patients with diffuse skin involvement displayed higher skin thickness and lower skin echogenicity than did patients with limited skin involvement. The ultrasound measurements correlated to the local mRss from the corresponding anatomical region and also to the total mRss. However, there was a considerable overlap in both skin thickness and skin echogenicity between different local mRss at all five anatomical sites. Skin involvement of the chest could be detected earlier by ultrasound than by palpation. CONCLUSION: In SSc patients with short disease duration, high-frequency ultrasound can identify the oedematous phase that may precede palpable skin involvement and may thus be useful to identify patients with diffuse skin involvement very early in the disease process. Ultrasound measurements also reflect the severity of the overall skin involvement.

Onchocerciasis of the flexor compartment of the forearm: a case report.

A 36-year-old white male schoolteacher presented with a painless, semifluctuant mass on the volar aspect of his forearm and symptoms of ring finger tenosynovitis and median nerve compression. At operation there was a widespread infestation of the flexor tendon compartment, the carpal tunnel, and the tendon sheaths of the ringer finger with Onchocerca volvulus, a filarial nematode, not previously reported in the these tissues.