A case of mucocutaneous leishmaniasis diagnosed by serology.

A 43-year-old Japanese Bolivian male had been suffering from a right leg ulcer after an insect bite during his residence in Bolivia. The ulcer healed after herbal medicine treatment. Ten years later, the patient had symptoms of nasal obstruction, nasal bleeding, and pharyngodynia, which were accompanied by a destructive ulcer with surrounding erythema involving the right nostril apex and columella.

Fixed eruption due to quinine in tonic water: a case report with high-performance liquid chromatography and ultraviolet A analyses.

Fixed drug eruption is a common cutaneous adverse reaction in young patients with a characteristic clinical appearance. However, the diagnosis and identification of the substance may be difficult if food or food additives provoke the fixed eruption. A 26-year-old man had a history of two episodes of cutaneous erythema with residual pigmentation.

Deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism secondary to co-administration of thalidomide and oral corticosteroid in a patient with leprosy.

A 58-year-old Japanese man with a 2-year history of multidrug therapy for borderline lepromatous leprosy presented with skin lesions suggestive of erythema nodosum leprosum (ENL) and was treated with an oral corticosteroid. As attempts to taper the oral corticosteroid resulted in the appearance of new lesions, thalidomide was added along with cyclosporin. Two months after the introduction of thalidomide, deep venous thrombosis (DVT) occurred in both legs and anticoagulant therapy was started without cessation of thalidomide.

Systemic lupus erythematosus complicated with protein-losing enteropathy: a case report and review of the published works.

A 45-year-old man was referred to our hospital with a history of multiple erythematous skin lesions of several months' duration. Blood examination revealed extreme hypoproteinemia and hypoalbuminemia, as well as the presence of antinuclear antibodies. A skin biopsy specimen showed liquefaction degeneration at the dermoepidermal junction and dense lymphocyte and neutrophil infiltration around the vessels and appendages in the upper and middle dermis.

Allergic contact dermatitis due to diclofenac sodium in eye drops.

Eyelid dermatitis and/or periocular dermatitis (ED/PD) is commonly seen in a variety of skin diseases such as seborrheic dermatitis, atopic dermatitis and psoriasis, but is most often associated with allergic contact dermatitis (ACD). Here, a case of ACD in an 82-year-old man is described; he used 0.1% diclofenac sodium eye drops and exhibited pruritic erythema on the eyelids.

Phaeohyphomycosis caused by Exophiala jeanselmei in a patient with polymyalgia rheumatica.

An 87-year-old man, a gardener in Okinawa, first noticed a tumor on the dorsum of his right hand in November 2005. He had been taking prednisolone for the treatment of polymyalgia rheumatica since 2000. A nearby dermatologist incised the tumor for pus drainage in February 2006.

Necrotizing fasciitis caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae.

A 69-year-old woman presented with shivering and pain in the lower extremities on 5 April 2006; she was referred to the dermatology division of our hospital on the following day with difficulty in walking. She had been suffering from non-viral, non-alcoholic liver cirrhosis, and was being treated by the Division of Internal Medicine. Physical examination showed edema in the lower extremities and light purpuras on the groin and legs.

Neonatal pemphigus vulgaris.

A male newborn with skin erosions was born to a 32-year-old woman who was under treatment for pemphigus vulgaris that had been diagnosed 16 months earlier. Antibodies to desmoglein (Dsg)1 and Dsg3 were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Index values of antibodies to Dsg1 and Dsg3 were 49 (normal index values, <14) and 121 (normal index values, <7), respectively.

Case of linear immunoglobulin A bullous dermatosis associated with acquired hemophilia.

Linear immunoglobulin (Ig)A bullous dermatosis is a rare autoimmune subepidermal bullous dermatosis caused by circulating IgA autoantibodies directed against the antigens at the basement membrane zone. Most linear IgA bullous dermatosis cases are idiopathic, but some are associated with the use of certain drugs, infections, lymphoproliferative disorders, internal malignancies, autoimmune disorders, collagen diseases or, very rarely, other skin diseases, including autoimmune bullous diseases. Acquired hemophilia is also rare; it is a coagulation disease caused by anti-factor VIII IgG antibodies.

Case of chromoblastomycosis appearing in an Okinawa patient with a medical history of Hansen's disease.

Chromoblastomycosis is one of several chronic infectious skin diseases caused by various species of dematiaceous fungi. It is clinically characterized by verrucous skin eruptions and occurs most commonly in tropical and subtropical regions. In Okinawa, a subtropical area, there have been only three reported cases of chromoblastomycosis including the present one.

Case of skin injuries due to stings by crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci).

A case of skin injuries due to stings by crown-of-thorns starfish, Acanthaster planci, in a 53-year-old Okinawan woman is reported. She went to a beach to gather shellfish on 8 April 2001 and fell to the ground with her left palm on a crown-of-thorns starfish that happened to be close to her. She hurried to the emergency section of our hospital.

Case of pemphigus foliaceus that shifted into pemphigus vulgaris after adrenal tumor resection.

A 79-year-old Japanese woman visited our hospital on 6 May 2003, who had suffered from erythema and crusted vesicles located on the head, face and trunk. The eruptions first appeared in February 2003. Histopathological findings included blister formation spreading from just below the horny layers to the upper squamous layers, where acantholytic cells were observed.

IL-18 gene polymorphisms affect IL-18 production capability by monocytes.

We previously demonstrated a significant association between IL-18 gene polymorphism 105A/C and asthma. In this study, we investigated the relationship of IL-18 gene polymorphism to IL-18 production capability by monocytes. The frequency of gene polymorphisms including IL-18-105A/C and IL-18--137G/C was determined by PCR analyses.

A case of tinea nigra palmaris in Okinawa, Japan.

We report a case of tinea nigra on the left palm of a 13-year-old girl. She had noticed a pigmented, asymptomatic macule on the left palm approximately 4-5 years prior to her first visit to our hospital. The color of the lesion tended to change before and after a bath; it became lighter after a bath and darkened some time later.

The attachment and entry of Leishmania (Leishmania) major into macrophages: observation by scanning electron microscope.

Leishmaniasis, a zoonotic protozoan disease, starts with the inoculation of the Leishmania promastigotes into the skin at the time of blood ingestion by a female sandfly. The infection of leishmaniasis is established when the Leishmania organisms start their own intracellular multiplication after having been phagocytized by the host's macrophages. In the earliest stage of the infection, therefore, the attachment of the promastigates to the macrophages is essential.

A genotype distribution of human papillomaviruses detected by polymerase chain reaction and direct sequencing analysis in a large sample of common warts in Japan.

There have been no large-scale epidemiological studies of human papillomavirus (HPV) genotype distribution of common warts in Japan. A total of 213 patients with common warts (104 males and 109 females) in Japan were studied to detect HPV genotype distribution by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and direct sequencing analysis. The results were as follows: 94 HPV-1a (44.

PTHrP-producing tumor: squamous cell carcinoma of the liver accompanied by humoral hypercalcemia of malignancy, increased IL-6 and leukocytosis.

A 77-year-old man was admitted to our hospital showing symptoms of general fatigue and appetite loss. He had leukocytosis, thrombocytosis and hypercalcemia with elevated serum levels of parathyroid hormone related peptide (PTHrP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6). An increase in tumor markers SCC and CYFURA21-1 was observed.