When a rash has two names: pese sorcery and kisigo spirits at Lake Tanganyika.

This explorative and qualitative study, based on 27 interviews during two months of fieldwork, describes pese, an affliction of the skin that has conspicuously stayed under the radar of medico-anthropological research in Kigoma, a rural city in the northwest Tanzania. The condition reminds of a locally better known condition labeled kisigo, raising the question why two concepts of the same affliction exist side by side. It seems indicative that the two illness concepts stem from different cultures and that each specializes in an explanatory model: the former witchcraft (sorcery) and the latter spirit possession. Moreover, a symbiotic relation seems to exist between the healing traditions of the Bembe and the Ha. Government policies prohibiting witchcraft and targeting traditional healers seem to have created a situation where witchcraft practices and beliefs have come to represent the periphery and survive there, clandestinely.

A Tale of Black Eschar in a Returning Traveller.

BACKGROUND: African tick-bite fever is an increasingly common cause for fever in the returning traveller. It needs to be considered in the febrile returning traveller with a characteristic rash: a black eschar. CASE REPORT: We describe a 51-year-old man returning from South Africa who presented to our emergency department with fever, headache, myalgia, and chills. On careful history and skin examination, a black eschar was found on the patient's left lateral shoulder, pointing toward a diagnosis of African tick-bite fever. The patient was treated with doxycycline and rapidly improved. WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF THIS?: In the emergency department, the diagnosis of African tick-bite fever is often overlooked in the pursuit of ruling out other travel-related illnesses, such as malaria. A thorough history, a complete physical examination, and a high level of suspicion are essential to the timely diagnosis and treatment of African tick-bite fever in the returning traveller.

Atopic dermatitis.

THE COMPARISON: A) Pink scaling plaques and erythematous erosions in the antecubital fossae of a 6-year-old White boy. B) Violaceous, hyperpigmented, nummular plaques on the back and extensor surface of the right arm of a 16-month-old Black girl. C) Atopic dermatitis and follicular prominence/accentuation on the neck of a young Black girl.

A novel syndrome of paediatric cataract, dysmorphism, ectodermal features, and developmental delay in Australian Aboriginal family maps to 1p35.3-p36.32.

BACKGROUND: A novel phenotype consisting of cataract, mental retardation, erythematous skin rash and facial dysmorphism was recently described in an extended pedigree of Australian Aboriginal descent. Large scale chromosomal re-arrangements had previously been ruled out. We have conducted a genome-wide scan to map the linkage region in this family. METHODS: Genome-wide linkage analysis using Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) markers on the Affymetrix 10K SNP array was conducted and analysed using MERLIN. Three positional candidate genes (ZBTB17, EPHA2 and EPHB2) were sequenced to screen for segregating mutations. RESULTS: Under a fully penetrant, dominant model, the locus for this unique phenotype was mapped to chromosome 1p35.3-p36.32 with a maximum LOD score of 2.41. The critical region spans 48.7 cM between markers rs966321 and rs1441834 and encompasses 527 transcripts from 364 annotated genes. No coding mutations were identified in three positional candidate genes EPHA2, EPHB2 or ZBTB17. The region overlaps with a previously reported region for Volkmann cataract and the phenotype has similarity to that reported for 1p36 monosomy. CONCLUSIONS: The gene for this syndrome is located in a 25.6 Mb region on 1p35.3-p36.32. The known cataract gene in this region (EPHA2) does not harbour mutations in this family, suggesting that at least one additional gene for cataract is present in this region.

Eritema multiforme, una rara presentación de exantema en población pediátrica: a propósito de un caso / Erythema multiforme, a rare occurrence of exanthema in the pediatric population: on the subject of a case

El Eritema multiforme (EM) o eritema polimorfo es una enfermedad aguda de la piel de naturaleza inmunológica con o sin compromiso de mucosas, que puede comportarse como crónica recurrente. Se presenta con lesiones cutáneas en diana distintivas, a menudo acompañado de úlceras o bullas en mucosas (oral, genital u ocular). Entre sus formas clínicas se distingue: una forma menor caracterizado por un síndrome cutáneo leve y su forma mayor que se manifiesta como una afectación cutánea con daño mucoso marcado. Entre sus principales diagnósticos diferenciales se encuentran el Síndrome de Stevens-Johnson (SSJ) y Síndrome de Lyell (Necrólisis epidérmica tóxica (NET)). Tiene una incidencia estimada < 1%, siendo su forma mayor levemente más frecuente que su forma menor (0.8-6 por millón/año). Puede darse a cualquier edad, presentando un peak de incidencia entre los 20 y 30 años, predominando ligeramente el sexo masculino con una proporción 3:2, sin predilección racial. Su presentación en edad pediátrica es rara, más aún en la primera infancia. En esta población es más frecuente el EM menor recurrente. En el presente texto se reporta un caso de EM en población pediátrica como una rara forma de presentación exantemática, abordado en el Servicio de Pediatría del Complejo Asistencial Dr Victor Rios Ruiz (CAVRR)en la ciudad de Los Ángeles, Chile en el presente año.

Erythema multiforme (EM) also known as polymorph erythema is an acute skin disease of immunological nature with or without mucous membrane involvement, which may behave as chronic recurrent. It presents with distinctive targets like skin lesions, often together with ulcers or bullae in mucous membranes (oral, genital or ocular). Among its clinical forms are: a minor form characterized by a mild skin syndrome and its major form that manifests as a skin disease with marked mucosal damage. Among its main differential diagnoses are Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (SJS) and Lyell Syndrome (Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TEC)). It has an estimated incidence < 1%, with its major form being slightly more frequent than its minor form (0. 8-6 per million/year). It can occur at any age, presenting a peak incidence at the age between 20 and 30 years, with a slight predominance of males with a 3:2 ratio, without racial predilection. Its presentation in pediatric age is rare, even more so in early childhood. Minor recurrent EM is more common in this population. This paper reports a case of EM in the pediatric population as a rare form of exanthematic presentation, addressed at the Department of Pediatrics of the Complejo Asistencial Victor Rios Ruiz (CAVRR) in the city of Los Angeles, Chile this year.

Anti-SmD1 antibodies are associated with renal disorder, seizures, and pulmonary arterial hypertension in Chinese patients with active SLE.

Detection of autoantibodies in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) plays an important role in timely diagnosis and earlier treatment of SLE. In this study, we used a SmD1 polypeptide-based ELISA to determine anti-SmD1 antibody in 269 SLE, including100 naïve (had not been treated with steroids or immunosuppressants at study inception) SLE patients and 169 non-naive SLE patients; 233 controls with other rheumatic diseases (RDC) (70 RA, 40 AS, 73SSc, and 50 SS), and 110 healthy controls (HC) group. The positive rate of anti-SmD1 among all SLE patients was 60.97%, higher than that in the RDC group (13.30%, P = 0.000) or the HC group (9.09%, P = 0.000). The positive rate of anti-SmD1 in non-naive SLE patients was higher than that for anti-dsDNA antibodies (44.97%, P = 0.03). Positivity for anti-SmD1 only was found in 14.00% of naive SLE patients and 16.00% of non-naive SLE patients. In naive SLE patients, the serum concentration of anti-SmD1 was lower after treatment than before treatment (P = 0.039). Active SLE patients positive for anti-SmD1 were more likely to have malar rash, rash, nonscarring alopecia, PAH and hypocomplementemia. High positivity for anti-SmD1 only in patients with SLE indicated the importance and necessity of detection of anti-SmD1 in patients with SLE.

Single-nucleotide polymorphisms of MAMDC1 are associated with rash and photosensitivity, but not disease risk, of systemic lupus erythematosus in Chinese mainland population.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a complex immune disease affected by both genetic dispositions and environmental factors. Recently, the polymorphisms in MAMDC1 gene have been reported to associate with disease risk of SLE in European population. However, whether this association is replicated in Chinese population is unknown yet. A total of 491 SLE patients and 533 controls were recruited. Unlabeled probe-based high-resolution melting analysis (HRMA) was used in genotyping. HRMA with unlabeled probe successfully distinguished all genotypes. SNP rs961616 was associated with rash [P = 0.015, odds ratio (OR) = 0.73, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.57-0.94] and photosensitivity (P = 0.001, OR = 0.63, 95%CI = 0.48-0.84), but not the disease risk (P = 0.133, OR = 0.88, 95%CI = 0.74-1.04), of SLE in Chinese population. Polymorphisms of rs961616 in MAMDC1 gene were associated with rash and photosensitivity, but not disease risk, of systemic lupus erythematosus in Chinese population.

Clinical and immunological manifestations in 134 Puerto Rican patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

To gain a better understanding of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in Puerto Ricans we studied the clinical and serologic manifestations in a cohort of 134 patients. The female to male ratio was 18:1. Mean age at diagnosis was 32 +/- 12 y. The mean duration of disease and follow-up were 7.4 +/- 6.0 and 5.8 +/- 6.0 years respectively. Mortality was 3%. Photosensitivity (76.9%) and malar rash (71.9%) were the most common clinical manifestations. Arthritis was observed in 67.5% of patients. Anemia was seen in 67.2% of patients, but only 12.7% had autoimmune hemolytic anemia. Leukopenia (41.8%) and lymphopenia (64.9%) were also common. Serositis was observed in only 28%. Severe kidney damage such as nephrotic syndrome (14.2%) or renal failure (4%) was infrequent. Cardiovascular (12.7%) and neurologic (9.0%) manifestations were also uncommon. Antinuclear antibodies (ANA) were detected in 93.3%, anti-dsDNA antibodies in 54.5%, anti-Ro antibodies in 30.1% and anti-La antibodies in 14.2%. Low C3 and low C4 were observed in 38.3% and 35.7% respectively. This study suggests that Puerto Ricans with SLE present a mild form of disease predominantly manifested by cutaneous, musculoskeletal and hematologic involvement, but low prevalence of major organ damage and low mortality.

[Adverse effects of cotrimoxazole in Spanish patients with AIDS and pneumonia caused by Pneumocystis carinii]. / Efectos indeseables del cotrimoxazol en pacientes españoles con SIDA y neumonía por Pneumocystis carinii.

We retrospectively analyze the untoward effects due to cotrimoxazole (CMX) when this drug was used as initial therapy in 37 Spanish AIDS patients with Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP). A total of 46% of patients developed an adverse reaction, that was considered severe in 24.3% of cases, and prompted to stop CMX therapy in 10.8% of patients. The most frequent untoward effects were low white blood cells count (29.7%), skin rash (16.2%) and low platelet count (13.5%). The overall compliance and absence of undesirable effects to CMX seen in our patients, together with the well established clinical efficacy of this drug, allow us to recommend the use of CMX as initial therapy for Spanish AIDS patients with PCP.

Varón de 24 años con fiebre y erupción cutánea / A 24 year-old man with fever and cutaneous rash

No disponible

No disponible