Efficacy of penguin cap as scalp cooling system for prevention of alopecia in patients undergoing chemotherapy.

Aims: The present study examines the efficacy of a scalp cooling system to prevent chemotherapy-induced alopecia in people with cancer.

Background: Alopecia has been established as the most distressing aspect of chemotherapy to such an extent that some patients even refrain from cytotoxic treatment.

Methods: Using a quasi-experimental approach in 2007, a total number of 63 patients aged 16-59 years (mean 35 ± 5·5 years) participated in the study and were treated with an intravenous regimen of chemotherapy drug.

Long-term pruritus as the initial and sole clinical manifestation of occult Hodgkin's disease.

Pruritus or itch is a frequent symptom of patients with Hodgkin's disease. It often occurs during the clinical course of the disease and rarely may precede the diagnosis of underlying disease. In this report, we present a 16-year-old patient who had history of generalized pruritus without any skin rash for 4 years before the diagnosis of Hodgkin's disease.