Corticosteroid Therapy in Combination with Antibiotics for Erysipelas.

Background: Erysipelas, an acute infection of the dermal and subcutaneous tissue, is normally treated with antibiotics. Previous data indicated that treatment with prednisone in combination with antibiotics results in significant acceleration of the healing phase.

Objectives: To investigate the effectiveness of corticosteroids combined with antibiotics for the treatment of erysipelas.

Efficacy of Dapsone in the Treatment of Pemphigus Vulgaris: A Single-Center Case Study.

Background: Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) is a chronic autoimmune blistering disease. Most patients require long-term therapy with systemic steroids, and a steroid-sparing agent is usually also utilized. Dapsone is a chemotherapeutic agent with anti-inflammatory properties that is used as a steroid-sparing agent in PV.

Diagnosis and classification of autoimmune blistering diseases.

Blistering skin diseases are a group of autoimmune disorders that are characterized by autoantibodies against structural proteins of the epidermis or the dermal-epidermal junction and clinically by blisters and erosions on skin and/or mucous membranes. Since clinical criteria and histopathological characteristics are not sufficient for diagnosis, direct immunofluorescence microscopy of a biopsy specimen or serological tests are needed for exact diagnosis. The differentiation between the various disorders became more important since prognosis as well as different treatment options are nowadays available for the various diseases.

9-cis-rich β-carotene powder of the alga Dunaliella reduces the severity of chronic plaque psoriasis: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial.

Background: Synthetic retinoids are one of the mainstay treatments of psoriasis. However, their use is occasionally limited by adverse effects, especially mucocutaneous, hepatic, and lipid profile toxicity. Thus, a search for retinoid metabolites that are both safe and active is essential.

Adjuvant rituximab therapy in pemphigus: a single-center experience of 18 cases.

Background: Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) follows a chronic relapsing course where the mainstay of therapy has been oral corticosteroids and second-line immunosuppressive and immunomodulating therapies. Successful responses have been reported with rituximab, a chimeric monoclonal anti-CD20 antibody targeting B lymphocytes, although its use in recalcitrant pemphigus is still being studied.

Methods: A retrospective analysis is presented of 18 patients with cutaneous and mucous membrane involvement after disease relapse following steroid and other adjuvant therapies who were treated with rituximab (4 intravenous infusions of 375 mg/m² once weekly for 4 consecutive weeks).

[Rituximab (Mabthera) for treatment of rare autoimmune bullous skin disorders].

Autoimmune bullous skin disorders are characterized by a severe and potentially lethal course and may require aggressive long-term treatment with systemic corticosteroids and other immunosuppressive drugs, which can lead to serious adverse events. Recently, anti-CD20 antibody, Rituximab, was reported to be beneficial as an adjuvant therapy in these diseases. Herein, we present 2 case reports of patients suffering from resistant rare diseases from the aforementioned spectrum: linear IgA dermatosis and Pemphigoid gestationis.

Population-specific association between a polymorphic variant in ST18, encoding a pro-apoptotic molecule, and pemphigus vulgaris.

Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) is a severe autoimmune blistering disease caused by anti-epithelial antibodies, leading to disruption of cell-cell adhesion. Although the disease is exceedingly rare worldwide, it is known to be relatively prevalent in Jewish populations. The low prevalence of the disease represents a significant obstacle to a genome-wide approach to the mapping of susceptibility genes.

Methotrexate is an effective and safe adjuvant therapy for pemphigus vulgaris.

Background: Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) is a chronic, autoimmune blistering disease. Most patients require long term therapy with systemic steroids as a first line of treatment. Immunosuppressive agents such as methotrexate (MTX) are administrated as second line therapy.

Treatment of erosive oral lichen planus with local ultraviolet B phototherapy.

Background: Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a chronic inflammatory disease that can significantly affect the patient's quality of life.

Objective: We sought to demonstrate the therapeutic efficacy of local ultraviolet (UV) B phototherapy in OLP.

Methods: Patients with biopsy-confirmed erosive OLP recalcitrant to previous medical therapy were treated with the TheraLight UV 120-2 system (TheraLight Inc, Carlsbad, CA).

The impact of stratifying initial dose of corticosteroids by severity of pemphigus vulgaris on long-term disease severity.

Background: Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) is a life-threatening disease affecting skin and mucous membranes. The "epitope spreading" theory posits that uncontrolled PV can gradually worsen because of exposure of cellular antigens to the immune system. To this end, high-dose systemic corticosteroids have been advocated as first-line treatment for patients with PV to achieve disease control.

Autoimmune bullous diseases the spectrum of infectious agent antibodies and review of the literature.

Pemphigus and bullous pemphigoid are two autoimmune diseases that have a similar pathogenesis. Both have a genetic predisposition which promotes the production of auto-antibodies targeted against different components of the epidermal desmosome and hemidesmosome. Environmental factors play an important role in the pathogenesis of this autoimmune disease.

Evidence for methotrexate as a useful treatment for steroid-dependent chronic urticaria.

Chronic urticaria is a relatively common disorder that can be severe and may impair quality of life. The management of recalcitrant chronic urticaria that is not responding to histamine antagonists includes short-term systemic corticosteroids, anti-inflammatory drugs (colchicine, dapsone and sulfasalazine) and immunomodulatory agents, such as cyclosporine, methotrexate, plasmapheresis and intravenous immunoglobulin. We report here our retrospective experience with the use of methotrexate in 8 patients (2 males and 6 females) with recalcitrant chronic urticaria who were not responding to high-dose first- and second-generation antihistamines.

The Koebner phenomenon.

The Koebner phenomenon is one of the most well-known entities in dermatology. It was first described by Heinrich Koebner in 1876 as the formation of psoriatic lesions in uninvolved skin of psoriatic patients after cutaneous trauma. This isomorphic phenomenon is now known to involve numerous diseases, among them vitiligo, lichen planus, and Darier disease.

Clinical application of static fluorescence-based cytometry, Cellscan, in cutaneous adverse drug reaction.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Cellscan in identifying culprit drugs causing cutaneous adverse drug reaction. It was a prospective study with 3 months follow up conducted at the Departments of Dermatology, Internal Medicine and Dermatology Outpatient Clinic, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel. The study included 36 patients with cutaneous reaction suspected to be secondary to drugs, treated with a total number of 148 drugs.

Ciclopirox nail lacquer for the treatment of onychomycosis: an open non-comparative study.

Onychomycosis is a relatively common disease accounting for up to 50% of all nail disorders. Topical treatment, although less effective than systemic, is usually preferred by patients. Topical antifungal nail lacquers have been formulated to provide better delivery of the antifungal agent to the nail unit.

Iontophoretic terbinafine HCL 1.0% delivery across porcine and human nails.

Background: Onychomycosis is a common disease. Topical treatment is usually not effective due to limitation of trans-nail delivery of antifungal drugs. Successful treatment of deep-seated nail infections remains elusive as the delivery of efficacious levels of antifungal drug to the site of action is very difficult.

Mycosis fungoides and CD30+ cutaneous T-cell lymphoma simulating pyoderma gangrenosum in a patient with ulcerative colitis.

Background: Pyoderma gangrenosum is estimated to occur in 5% to 12% of ulcerative colitis patients. Primary CD30+ cutaneous large cell lymphoma is the second most common cutaneous lymphoma. It may coexists with mycosis fungoides.

Comparative study of nail sampling techniques in onychomycosis.

Onychomycosis is a common problem. Obtaining accurate laboratory test results before treatment is important in clinical practice. The purpose of this study was to compare results of curettage and drilling techniques of nail sampling in the diagnosis of onychomycosis, and to establish the best technique and location of sampling.

Onychomycosis in psoriatic patients - rationalization of systemic treatment.

Nail changes in patients with psoriasis have been reported with varying prevalence. Onychomycosis has been reported in up to 47% of the psoriasis patients. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of nail abnormalities, onychomycosis in psoriasis and response to itraconazole treatment.

The effectiveness of combined Chinese herbal medicine and acupuncture in the treatment of atopic dermatitis.

Background: Patients with atopic dermatitis increasingly use complementary medicine.

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the combination of Chinese herbal medicine and acupuncture for the treatment of atopic dermatitis.

Methods: Twenty (20) patients between the ages of 13 and 48 who had mild-to-severe atopic dermatitis were given a combined treatment of acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine and were followed prospectively.

Pemphigus and infectious agents.

Pemphigus is a group of autoimmune bullous diseases characterized by a loss of cell adhesion and blister formation within the epidermis in the skin and/or the mucosal surfaces. Pemphigus develops due to the interaction between predisposing genetic factors and environmental factors. Among the latter, infectious agents such as viruses and bacteria were reported as preceding or exacerbating pemphigus disease.

Treatment of moderate to severe facial seborrheic dermatitis with itraconazole: an open non-comparative study.

Background: Seborrheic dermatitis is a common chronic disease. Malassezia yeasts have been implicated in the pathogenesis of this disease. Antifungal agents are known to be effective in the treatment of Malassezia yeast infections.