IL-1β and IL-17 in cutaneous lupus erythematous skin biopsies: could immunohistochemicals indicate a tendency towards systemic involvement?

Background: Only a fraction of patients with cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE) will eventually progress toward systemic disease (SLE).

Objective: To find inflammatory biomarkers which could predict the progression of cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE) into systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) using immunohistochemical (IHC) assays.

Methods: Immunohistochemical markers for cytotoxic, inflammatory, and anti-inflammatory responses and morphometric methods were applied to routine paraffin sections of skin biopsies, taken from lesions of 59 patients with discoid lupus, subacute lupus, and lupus tumidus.

Epidermolytic hyperkeratosis: a follow-up of 23 years of use of systemic retinoids.

Epidermolytic hyperkeratosis is a form of ichthyosis normally resistant to topical treatments. Female patient monitored since 1978 diagnosed with epidermolytic hyperkeratosis. Clinical examination showed generalized hyperkeratosis and scaling.

Angiokeratoma of the vulva.

Angiokeratomas are benign tumors characterized by ectasia of blood vessels in the papillary dermis associated with acanthosis and hyperkeratosis of the epidermis. Dermatological examination of angiokeratomas of Fordyce is characterized by papular keratotic lesions of erythematous-violet color. They are more common in the scrotum, and vulvar involvement is rarely reported.

Lichen striatus on adult.

Lichen Striatus is an uncommon inflammatory skin eruption of unknown etiology. It rarely affects adults, and it is characterized by abrupt onset of coalescent papules, in a linear disposition, usually on the extremities. Histopathology shows lichenoid reaction involving follicles and glands.

Use of the ML-Flow test as a tool in classifying and treating leprosy.

Background: The treatment of leprosy is defined by the classification of patients as paucibacillary (PB) or multibacillary (MB). The WHO (World Health Organization) classifies patients according to the number of lesions, but Ridley-Jopling (R & J) also uses complementary exams, which are difficult to use outside reference services. In 2003, a test called ML-Flow, an alternative to Elisa serology, was developed to help classify patients as PB or MB and decide about their treatment.

Secondary Ekbom syndrome to organic disorder: report of three cases.

The Ekbom syndrome, also known as delusion of parasitosis or acarophobia is an obsessive phobic state in which the patient thinks, imagines or believes that his or her skin is infested by parasites. In the hallucinatory state, he/she removes parts of the skin, identifying them as parasites. It can be primary or secondary to other organic or psychiatric diseases.

[Evaluation of the degree of incapacity of patients with a diagnosis of leprosy at a dermatology service in the state of São Paulo].

Unlabelled: IINTRODUCTION: Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease that can lead to physical incapacity.

Methods: The medical records of 167 patients diagnosed with leprosy between 2003 and 2007 were reviewed.

Results: Most of the patients (60%) presented physical incapacity at the time of diagnosis: 34% with grade I and 26% with grade II.

Vasculonecrotic reactions in leprosy.

Multibacillary, lepromatous or borderline leprosy patients may present two types of vasculonecrotic reactions: Lucio phenomenon and that associated with erythema nodosum leprosum. Despite they can be distinguished through clinical and histological characteristics; both are often used as synonyms. It is said that leprosy reaction should be properly classified for therapeutic reasons, since it is well known that in Lucio phenomenon there is not a good response to thalidomide.