[Multiple spontaneous pneumothoraces revealing Birt-Hogg-Dube syndrome].

The Birt-Hogg-Dubé (BHD) syndrome is associated with cutaneous disorders including fibrofolliculomas and trichodiscomas, and also lung pneumatocysts and kidney tumours. The BHD syndrome occurs as a consequence of an autosomal dominantly inherited genodermatosis, linked to multiple germline mutations in the 14 exons of the BHD gene, mapped on 17p11.2 and encoding for folliculin (FLCN).

[Tolerability of oral administration of carboxymethylcellulose in two patients presenting anaphylactic reaction after carboxymethylcellulose injection].

Background: Carboxymethylcellulose is a high-molecular-weight polysaccharide molecule used as a binding agent, for coating molecules and to increase the viscosity of formulations. It is present in a large number of pharmaceutical products but is also found in food and cosmetics.

Case-report: We report two cases of patients who presented anaphylactic reactions immediately after localised corticosteroid injections; intra-articular for the first and intralesional for the second.

[Impact of corticosteroid withdrawal in chronic urticaria: a prospective study of 17 patients].

Background: Although two reports have indicated benefits of oral steroids in acute urticaria, the 2003 French guidelines emphasized their inefficacy in the treatment of idiopathic chronic urticaria, and the lack of studies. We present the results of a prospective study in 17 patients presenting severe chronic urticaria who agreed to stop taking oral steroids over a one-year period.

Patients And Methods: This single-centre prospective study included adults (1) presenting chronic urticaria as defined by the French consensus conference committee on chronic urticaria (2003), (2) exhibiting at least two of the following three criteria: sleep disturbance due to itching, repeated angioedema, general symptoms; (3) unresponsive or mildly improved by antihistaminic (anti-H1) therapy; (4) receiving oral steroids at least three days per month.