Publications by authors named "Hiram Almeida"

Article Synopsis
  • Piedras are small nodules found on hair shafts, with white piedra previously linked to Trichosporon beigelii, now causing a reassessment of its causative agents.
  • The first recorded case of white piedra was identified as being caused by Cutaneotrichosporon debeurmannianum, which was studied using scanning electron microscopy and cultures from Sabouraud medium.
  • Genetic analysis showed 99.6% similarity between the nucleotide sequences of the isolated fungus and the 28S large ribosomal unit rDNA, confirming Cutaneotrichosporon debeurmannianum as the causative agent of this white piedra case.
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Background: Tiger tail hairs, Morse hairs or pili annulati is a nonsyndromic hair shaft disorder, characterized by alternating light and dark bands along the hair shaft.

Methods: The outer surface and the inner structure of longitudinally cut tiger tail hairs were examined with scanning electron microscopy.

Results: Hair specimens of five affected individuals showed small surface undulations with "curtain-like" folding of the hair cuticula (microcanaliculi).

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CARD14-associated papulosquamous eruption (CAPE) was proposed in 2018 to describe the clinical features of psoriasis and pityriasis rubra pilaris with CARD 14 mutations. We report a 5-month-old female infant who developed CAPE-associated erythroderma. Although she did not respond to conventional therapies, she responded well to ustekinumab treatment at the age of 4 years.

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Background: Little is known about the ultrastructure of pili annulati.

Objectives: To examine with transmission electron microscopy affected hairs of a family, whose diagnosis had been confirmed in five individuals with scanning electron microscopy, which showed surface undulations with "curtain-like" folding of the hair cuticula and to compare the findings with normal control.

Methods: Hairs of two affected patients and one control were embedded in resin and cut lengthwise to produce ultra-thin sections.

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A 73-year-old male patient developed a poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma in the anal canal nine months ago. He was treated with two cycles of 5-fluorouracil and cisplatin and concomitant radiotherapy (6 MeV linear photon accelerator, total dose of 54 Gy), with complete remission. Since forty-five days he presentes a painful perianal and intergluteal erosion with circinate pustular borders.

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Panitumumab is a monoclonal antibody against the epidermal growth factor receptor used in metastatic colorectal cancer; in addition to tumor cells, it acts on epidermal keratinocytes and on the outer root sheath and presents skin toxicity in up to 90% of cases. A scanning electron microscope was used to examine the eyelashes and hairs of a 65-year-old patient with eyelash trichomegaly, curly hair, and paronychia undergoing treatment with panitumumab. Grooving in the hair shafts were identified, which were more evident in the eyelashes.

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McCune - Albright syndrome is a genetic disease with cutaneous mosaicism caused by post-zygotic activating mutations in GNAS locus, it has a triad of fibrous bone dysplasia, café-au-lait macules and precocious puberty. We examined a 22-year-old female patient with café au lait spot in right side of the abdomen, with a chessboard - like distribution, extending to right thigh with geographical contours, she has also an ovarian cyst, scoliosis and truncal obesity. Biopsies were taken from the hyperpigmented area and processed for light microscopy and for transmission electron microscopy.

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Lipoid proteinosis is a rare autosomal recessive disease, characterized by hyaline deposits of PAS-positive material in tissues due to mutations in the ECM1 gene. This study evaluated the ultrastructure of the skin of a 6-year-old child affected by this condition. The light microscopy identified PAS-positive hyaline deposits, which were more intense in the papillary dermis.

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Alopecia, neurologic defects, and endocrinopathy (ANE) syndrome is a rare ribosomopathy known to be caused by a p.(Leu351Pro) variant in the essential, conserved, nucleolar large ribosomal subunit (60S) assembly factor RBM28. We report the second family of ANE syndrome to date and a female pediatric ANE syndrome patient.

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Oral inhibitors of epidermal growth factor receptor may have a wide range of cutaneous manifestations. Hair manifestations are observed in 10%-20% of the patients. At the ultrastructural level erlotinib-induced hair changes were already described as acquired pili torti et canaliculi.

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The cutaneous toxicity of the epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors, such as erlotinib, is associated with a wide range of manifestations, such as papulopustular eruptions, xerosis, paronychia, and changes in the growth pattern of hair and nails. Hair manifestations are seen in 10%-20% of the patients. A female patient taking erlotinib for lung cancer for 8 months noticed that her scalp hair became rough on palpation and that her eyelashes were elongated.

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Chlorpromazine may induce abnormal skin hyperpigmentation in exposed areas, described as slate-gray, purple, or blue-grayish discoloration. A 58-year-old man with schizophrenia, had been taking chlorpromazine for 5 years, and his sun-exposed skin areas exhibited a blue-grayish color. Large deposits of brown pigment and granular basophilic material were seen in the dermis with light microscopy.

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