Publications by authors named "Alexandra Mereniuk"

Article Synopsis
  • - Pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) is a rare condition that causes painful ulcers, which can occur after trauma like needle insertion, a phenomenon known as pathergy; this report highlights a 69-year-old woman who developed PG after hemodialysis.
  • - The patient experienced painful ulcers at the site of needle insertion on her arteriovenous fistula (AVF), prompting a diagnosis of PG following a thorough evaluation that ruled out other causes.
  • - Treatment involved suspending dialysis through the AVF and using medications such as prednisone, topical corticosteroids, and colchicine to manage PG; her condition improved, allowing for safe resumption of dialysis while minimizing the risk of further complications.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Morphea is a skin disease caused by the body's immune system, and eosinophilic fasciitis (EF) is a severe type of it.
  • Researchers looked at if people with morphea or EF have a higher chance of getting other cancers, especially after cancer treatments.
  • Out of 201 studies, some found a small increased risk of skin and possibly pancreatic cancers in morphea patients, but more research is needed for a clearer understanding.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Ixazomib, a proteasome inhibitor commonly used for the treatment of multiple myeloma, is a rare cause of Sweet's syndrome. We present a 62-year-old man who developed drug-induced Sweet's syndrome during his fifth cycle of ixazomib for treatment of refractory multiple myeloma. Monthly rechallenge led to the recurrence of symptoms.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Bullous pemphigoid is an autoimmune blistering disease that primarily affects the geriatric population. It often presents as urticarial erythematous plaques, which evolve into subepidermal blisters accompanied by pruritus. Although rare, clinical variants of bullous pemphigoid have been documented.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Adenoid cystic carcinoma is predominantly a tumor of the parotid glands and can sometimes be found in other glands. In most cases, skin location is usually a metastatic presentation and rarely a primary tumor. We describe the case of a 59-year-old female patient presenting with a 5-mm skin-colored nodule on the abdomen histologically compatible with a primary cutaneous adenoid cystic carcinoma.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Cutaneous xanthomas are the result of dermal deposition of lipid, mostly caused by disorders of lipid metabolism. Less commonly, they occur in the setting of cholestatic liver disease, leading to accumulation of lipoprotein X, a rare form of dyslipidemia that does not respond well to conventional treatments. We describe an atypical presentation of sudden diffuse xanthomas secondary to lipoprotein X dyslipidemia in the context of cholestatic fulminant hepatitis caused by trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole hypersensitivity.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Mycosis fungoides (MF) is primarily characterized by a CD4 CD8 T-cell phenotype, but rare atypical immunophenotypes exist, and their impact on the disease is not well understood.
  • A study from Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre analyzed 160 MF patients over 10 years, comparing common CD4 CD8 cases with rarer subtypes to assess differences in diagnosis, progression, and treatment needs.
  • Findings suggest that atypical MF immunophenotypes do not significantly affect disease prognosis, although they present with different clinical features and lower systemic therapy requirements; however, the study's small sample size is a limitation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Eosinophilia, both peripheral and in cutaneous tissue, is not a typical finding in mycosis fungoides; in fact, when faced with a lymphoeosinophilic infiltrate, mycosis fungoides is often not part of initial differential considerations. However, eosinophilia has been described in certain subtypes of mycosis fungoides, namely, in folliculotropic mycosis fungoides. We describe three challenging cases of folliculotropic mycosis fungoides presenting with varied clinical morphologies and a dense lymphoeosinophilic infiltrate and/or severe hypereosinophilia that obscured the final diagnosis for years.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Toxic epidermal necrolysis spectrum (TENS) is a rare yet severe adverse drug reaction associated with a high mortality rate. Beyond supportive care, there is still no established therapy for TENS, although recent meta-analyses and UK guideline recommendations have attempted to offer a review of relevant literature on this difficult topic. As most directed treatments lack clear consensual evidence, care centres often resort to establishing their own strategies.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF