Clinical and Serological Features in Latin American IgG4-Related Disease Patients Differ According to Sex, Ethnicity, and Clinical Phenotype.

Background/objective: Data on IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) come almost exclusively from cohorts from Asia, Europe, and North America. We conducted this study to describe the clinical presentation, phenotype distribution, and association with sex, ethnicity, and serological markers in a large cohort of Latin American patients with IgG4-RD.

Methods: We performed a multicenter medical records review study including 184 Latin American IgG4-RD patients.

Phase-Change Materials in Hydronic Heating and Cooling Systems: A Literature Review.

When considering the deployment of renewable energy sources in systems, the challenge of their utilization comes from their time instability when a mismatch between production and demand occurs. With the integration of thermal storages into systems that utilize renewable energy sources, such mismatch can be evened out. The use of phase-change materials (PCMs) as thermal storage has a theoretical advantage over the sensible one because of their high latent heat that is released or accumulated during the phase-change process.

Female-biased sex difference in vasotocin-immunoreactive neural structures in the developing quail brain.

The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis pars medialis (BSTM), medial preoptic nucleus (POM), and lateral septal region (LS) exhibit more vasotocin-immunoreactive (VT-ir) neural structures in male than in female adult quail. VT-ir cells and fibers in these regions are sensitive to gonadal steroids only in males. The insensitivity of adult female VT-ir neural structures to sex steroids is attributed to estradiol exposure during a critical period in embryonic life.

Multiple cutaneous abscesses revealing disseminated nocardiosis in a patient with chronic rheumatoid arthritis.

Nocardiosis is a challenging infection that is difficult to diagnose and treat. Delayed recognition and prolonged illness are major concerns. We report the case of a 65-year-old man who underwent treatment with corticosteroids for rheumatoid arthritis and then presented with multiple abscesses on the right leg.

Diffuse dermal angiomatosis: a clinical mimicker of vasculitis associated with calciphylaxis and monoclonal gammopathy.

Diffuse dermal angiomatosis is a form of cutaneous reactive angiomatosis characterized clinically by painful erythematous or violaceous lesions with ulcers that may mimic cutaneous vasculitis/vasculopathy. Histologically it shows a benign, diffuse proliferation of endothelial cells with tiny blood vessels in the papillary and reticular dermis. Herein, we report four patients with diffuse dermal angiomatosis in the setting of calciphylaxis and monoclonal gammopathy and review the cases previously published in the literature.

Granulomatous reactions after injections of multiple aesthetic micro-implants in temporal combinations: a complication of filler addiction.

Background: Granulomatous reaction is a well-known complication following soft filler procedures. However, the diagnosis of filler-induced granulomas may be challenging because of the occasional reluctance of patients to report the previously performed aesthetic procedure.

Objective: To describe a new clinical situation in which some patients, in the quest for physical perfection, become addicted to multiple sequential cosmetic injections, increasing the risk of adverse reactions.

Metabolic syndrome prevalence in psoriasis: a cross-sectional study in the Italian population.

Background: The pathogenesis of psoriasis is complex, with a significant role suggested for pro-inflammatory mediators. There is strong evidence of an association between psoriasis and the metabolic syndrome (MetS), a cluster of cardiovascular risk factors, which impose a substantial disease burden.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of MetS and to examine the implications of disease severity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular disease in a large cohort of Italian psoriatic patients representative of the whole population.

Tinea atypica.

Although usually simple, the diagnosis of dermatophyte infection is sometimes neglected. Variations in clinical presentation (tinea atypica), mimicking other skin diseases depend on many factors, partially due to the dermatophyte's characteristics, and a combination of patient's pathological but often physiological conditions, such as excessive washing or sun exposure. The physician's misdiagnosis and eventual prescription of steroids or other incongruous treatments further induce pathomorphosis (tinea incognito), longstanding disease and delayed recovery.

Vasotocin mRNA expression is sensitive to testosterone and oestradiol in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis in female Japanese quail.

Vasotocin-producing parvocellular neurones in the medial part of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BSTM) of many species of birds and mammals show sexual dimorphism and great plasticity in response to hormonal and environmental stimuli. In the BSTM of Japanese quail, vasotocin-immunoreactive neurones are visible and sensitive to testosterone exclusively in males. In males, gonadectomy decreases and testosterone restores vasotocin-immunoreactive cells and fibres by acting on vasotocin mRNA transcription.

Leg ulcer in Werner syndrome (adult progeria): a case report.

Werner syndrome (WS; MIM#277700) or adult progeria, is a rare disease, associated with mutations of a single gene (RECQL2 or WRN), located on chromosome 8 (8p12). It codes a DNA-helicase, whose defects cause genomic instability. The highest incidences are reported in Japan and Sardinia (Italy).

Functioning glucagonoma associated with primary hyperparathyroidism: multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 or incidental association?

Background: Diagnosis of multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) is commonly based on clinical criteria, and confirmed by genetic testing. In patients without known MEN1-related germline mutations, the possibility of a casual association between two or more endocrine tumors cannot be excluded and subsequent management may be difficult to plan. We describe a very uncommon case of functioning glucagonoma associated with primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT) in which genetic testing failed to detect germline mutations of MEN-1 and other known genes responsible for MEN1.

Upper eyelid necrosis and reconstruction after spider byte: case report and review of the literature.

Spider bites are not very common, especially in the Mediterranean area, and those affecting the ocular-palpebral region involving reconstructive surgery are particularly rare. In May 2010, the case of a Caucasian 24-year-old female patient was brought to the attention of the Dermatology Department, University of Cagliari, Italy. The patient reported she woke up feeling an intense pain with itching and that also she had noticed a spider of an unknown species on her bed.

Dermatophyte infections mimicking other skin diseases: a 154-person case survey of tinea atypica in the district of Cagliari (Italy).

Background: Although usually simple, the diagnosis of dermatophyte infection is sometimes neglected. An observational study has been realized to evaluate the role of corticosteroid exposure (tinea incognito) and of other primary characteristics of the dermatophytosis that from onset mimic other diseases and mislead an unexperienced physician.

Materials And Methods: Between 1990 and 2009, all cases of atypical dermatophytosis mimicking other skin diseases were collected from the more general number of dermatophyte infections diagnosed at the Dermatology Department of Cagliari University, Italy.

A case of bullous pemphigoid in infancy treated with local corticosteroids.

Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is an immune-mediated subepidermal vesiculobullous eruption, whose true incidence is unknown, but it is considered extremely rare in children, with a usually indolent course and rare relapses. Diagnosis is often belated, because of the invasive assessment with biopsy for typical immune-pathologic findings to differentiate it from Dermatitis Herpetiformis and Linear IgA bullous dermatosis (LABD), more common in children. A 4-year-old girl presented with one year history of erythematous-edematous and erythematous-bullous eruptions on the genitalia, periocular regions, dorsal and palmo-plantar surfaces.

Cutaneous adverse drug reactions to allopurinol: 10 year observational survey of the dermatology department--Cagliari University (Italy).

Background: Allopurinol is extensively prescribed for conditions associated with urate excess, despite being responsible for severe cutaneous adverse drug reactions (ADR).

Objective: A cross-sectional survey of allopurinol cases observed at the main Dermatology Department with inpatients facilities in southern Sardinia. (approx 560,836 inhabitants).

Tinea faciei due to microsporum canis in children: a survey of 46 cases in the District of Cagliari (Italy).

Dermatophytoses are frequent in children, but involvement of the facial skin has peculiar aspects that should be considered a separate entity: tinea faciei. Microsporum canis infection in tinea faciei has not been widely documented. To review cases of tinea faciei due to M.

Italian Euromelanoma Day Screening Campaign (2005-2007) and the planning of melanoma screening strategies.

Although no study has definitively shown that unfocused screening of skin cancer is effective, many campaigns have been organized with the aim of increasing awareness on melanoma risk factors. The objective of this study was to analyse the results of the Skin Cancer Screening Day in Italy during the period 2005-2007, to determine the priorities for melanoma control plans in a Mediterranean country. A total of 5002 patients were screened by dermatologists in 31 cities.

D-penicillamine elastosis perforans serpiginosa: description of two cases and review of the literature.

Long term D-penicillamine (DPA) therapy to treat Wilson disease can induce elastosis perforans serpiginosa (EPS), a very rare degenerative skin disease characterized by a transepidermal elimination of elastic fiber aggregates. The iatrogenous disease depends on DPA capacity to chelate copper and cause its depletion. Lysyl-oxidase is a copper dependent enzyme crucial to the dermal elastic fiber cross-linking, which is strongly affected by DPA copper depletion.

Immunolocalization of aquaporin-4 in the brain, kidney, skeletal muscle, and gastro-intestinal tract of chicken.

Aquaporin-4 (AQP4), a member of the water channel family, has high water permeability and multi-functional potentiality. Although an avian AQP4 homolog has recently been identified, its overall localization is still largely unknown. This study demonstrates the presence of AQP4 in several organs of chicken by using a specific chicken AQP4 antibody.

Treating psoriasis with etanercept in italian clinical practice: prescribing practices and duration of remission following discontinuation.

Background: conventional antipsoriatic therapies are often administered until remission, with treatment resumed in the case of relapse, in order to reduce the likelihood of cumulative, dose-dependent toxicities. Biological agents have been safely used in continuous therapy.

Objective: to assess the use of etanercept for psoriasis in clinical practice in Italy.

Clinical outcome evaluation following cyclosporine a treatment in moderate to severe psoriasis: a retrospective study.

This retrospective study was conducted on 193 patients treated in three Italian Psoriasis Units with the aim of evaluating the evolution of psoriasis severity and the safety of cyclosporin A (Sandimmun Neoral) in moderate to severe psoriasis, at the regimens usually employed in common clinical practice. Cyclosporin A (CyA) was administered for a mean period of 14 months, the mean number of treatment courses was 1.6 (range 1-4), and the mean dosage ranged from 1.

Epidemiology of Tinea pedis in Cagliari, Italy.

Aim: Observational study of all incident Tinea pedis cases, realised from 2001 to 2007 at the Dermatology Clinic of the University of Cagliari, Italy, which is the main reference centre for dermatologic diseases in central southern Sardinia.

Methods: All patients referred for foot inflammatory pathologies were included in the study. Samples of all clinically visible lesions were taken for mycological examination (20% KOH and culture).