Treatment of distal subungual onychomycosis with a topical preparation of urea, propylene glycol and lactic acid: results of a 24-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

Onychomycosis is difficult to cure as this requires eradication of the primary infection and protection of new areas of growth from reinfection. A new topical treatment (K101) has been developed. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy, safety and tolerability of K101 treatment of distal subungual onychomycosis.

Multiple basal cell carcinoma. A clinical evaluation of risk factors.

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common malignant skin tumour. There is evidence that the number of patients who develop more than one basal cell carcinoma (mBCC) is increasing. The aim of this study was to elucidate possible risk factors for developing mBCC.

Double-blind, parallel-group comparison of terbinafine and griseofulvin in the treatment of toenail onychomycosis.

Background: Griseofulvin has been used in the treatment of toenail onychomycosis with limited success. Evidence suggests that terbinafine may be more effective.

Objective: In a double-blind, parallel-group study we compared 250 mg/day terbinafine for 16 weeks with 500 mg/day griseofulvin for 52 weeks (or for shorter periods in cured patients) in patients with toenail onychomycosis.

Juvenile pemphigus vulgaris.

Pemphigus vulgaris is extremely rare in childhood. Only 35 cases of juvenile pemphigus vulgaris have been reported in the literature up until to now. During the pre-steroid era, the outcome of the disease was usually regarded as fatal.

Purified trichophytin: lymphocyte reactivity in vitro and trichophytin-induced suppression.

Three trichophytin preparations from different strains of Trichophyton mentagrophytes were produced according to the ethylene glycol method and assessed for their lymphocyte stimulation activity in vitro (LST). These trichophytin preparations showed significant variations in their effects on cord lymphocytes reactivity. The preparations also varied in their stimulation of lymphocytes from patients with dermatophytosis.

The histopathogenesis of the flame figure in Wells' syndrome based on five cases.

Characteristics of Wells' syndrome are recurrent episodes of edema and erythema of sudden onset, often covering large areas of the skin. Microscopy shows marked eosinophilia and the presence of so-called flame figures. The flame figures have been considered to be either secondary to aggregates of expelled eosinophilic granules and disintergrating eosinophils, or foci of necrobiotic collagen.

Ultrastructural studies on experimental hair infections in vitro caused by Trichophyton mentagrophytes and Trichophyton rubrum.

Experimental infections with Trichophyton mentagrophytes and Trichophyton rubrum were performed on human hair in vitro and studied by conventional light microscopy, scanning (SEM) and transmission (TEM) electron microscopy. The penetrations visible by light microscopy in hair infected with T. mentagrophytes appeared at SEM as disrupted surface areas with perforating holes.

An immunohistochemical staining of epidermal Langerhans' cells in tinea cruris.

Epidermal Langerhans' cells (LC) were investigated in fresh cryostat sections of ten biopsies from patients with mycologically proven tinea cruris, using OKT6 monoclonal antibodies and avidin-biotin-immunoperoxidase. Compared to the controls, more epidermal LC and an increased number of LC in the upper half of the epidermis were found in the sections from tinea patients. In a double staining method for both OKT6-positivity and hyphae, a tendency towards a gathering of LC and fungal elements was found.

Brittle hair in osteogenesis imperfecta: transmission and scanning electron microscopy and mycologic assay.

The brittle hair fibres from a case of osteogenesis imperfecta were studied by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Normal hair fibres are extremely difficult to infect with T. mentagrophytes.

Human epidermal Langerhans cells induce cellular immune response to trichophytin in dermatophytosis.

Human epidermal cell suspensions were prepared from patients sensitized to trichophytin. The cells were 75% to 95% viable, and contained 2% to 6% Langerhans cells as judged by immunofluorescence staining with an anti-DR antiserum. T lymphocytes from the same patients were co-cultured with trichophytin, with or without epidermal cells or macrophages.

Dermatophytid--a misdiagnosed entity?

A mycological and immunological survey was performed in 26 patients with clinical signs of dermatophytid. Only 10 patients fulfilled the main criteria of dermatophytid reactions, i.e.

The changing clinical picture of Microsporum canis infections in Sweden.

All 22 cases of infections with Microsporum canis verified by culture during a five-year period were surveyed. Only tinea corporis was found. The clinical picture was varied and in more than half of the cases the preliminary diagnosis was other than tinea.