Malignancy associated with dermatomyositis - a retrospective single-center study with 33 patients.

Background: Dermatomyositis is a multisystemic inflammatory disease that has been associated with neoplastic disease.

Objectives: To assess the clinical/ laboratory data in a series of patients with dermatomyositis (DM) and identify associations with malignancy.

Material And Methods: Retrospective study of DM inpatient files between 1965 and 2011.

Secondary bilateral striopallidodentate calcinosis associated with generalized pustular psoriasis (Von Zumbusch).

Bilateral striopallidodentate calcinosis (BSPDC) mentioned in the literature as Fahr's disease (a misnomer), is characterized by symmetrical and bilateral intracerebral calcifications located in the basal ganglia with or without deposits in the dentate nucleus, thalamus, and white matter. This entity is usually asymptomatic but may be manifested by neurological symptoms. Idiopathic BSPDC can occur either as sporadic or autosomal dominant familial forms.

[Skin cancer in kidney transplant recipients: incidence and association with clinical and demographic factors].

Introduction And Objectives: Organ transplanted recipients have a higher risk of non melanoma skin cancer. Our objectives were to determine incidence of skin cancer and search for associations with clinical or demographic factors in a series of kidney transplant recipients.

Materials And Methods: A prospective study with face-to-face interview of 127 kidney transplant recipients who were observed for the first time during the second half of 2010 and in 2011.

Sweet syndrome-like neutrophilic infiltrate as initial presentation of acute myelogenous leukemia.

Sweet syndrome (SS) is a neutrophilic dermatosis that may be associated with malignancies, especially hematological. We describe the case of a 53-year-old woman with a clinical presentation suggestive of SS, accompanied by pancytopenia and a hypercellular marrow with signs of myelodysplasia. The histopathological findings were characterized as an SS-like cutaneous neutrophilic infiltrate with atypical myeloid cells, myeloperoxidase, and BCR-ABL+, which were absent in peripheral blood and bone marrow aspirate.

Molluscum contagiosum eyelid lesions in an HIV-patient.

Molluscum contagiosum (MC) lesions on the face are mainly observed in HIV patients and are related to low CD4 cells counts. We report a 41-year-old female patient infected with human immunodeficiency virus who had a CD4 count of 22 cells/mm³. She developed molluscum contagiosum lesions at the right upper eyelid.

"Half-half" blisters in bullous pemphigoid successfully treated with adjuvant high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin.

Bullous pemphigoid is a rare, autoimmune blistering disease. Its clinical presentation is tense blisters that may arise on normal-appearing or erythematous skin. Bullous pemphigoid refractory to systemic corticosteroids in combination with immunosuppressants such as azathioprine and mycophenolate mofetil may benefit from adjuvant high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg).

Autoimmune thyroiditis presenting as interstitial granulomatous dermatitis.

A 54-year-old female presented with recurrent, widespread, erythematous, painful plaques, over a 3-month period. Skin biopsy was compatible with interstitial granulomatous dermatitis. Additional investigation revealed hypothyroidism and positive anti-thyroid antibodies.

Erythema nodosum leprosum associated with minocycline.

Erythema nodosum leprosum is defined by the appearance of tender skin nodules, which can be accompanied by fever, joint pain, neuritis, edema, malaise and/or lymphadenopathy. The authors describe the case of a 19-year-old Angolan black woman, resident in Portugal for the last 10 years, diagnosed with Hansen's disease at the age of 12, irregular with follow-up and non-compliant with treatment. She was referred to our clinic with painful nodules and pustules on the upper limbs, diffuse facial infiltration with pustules and fever, after initiating minocycline with the intention of treating acne.

Actinomycetoma of the chest wall attributed to Nocardia nova after reconstructive surgery.

A 29-year-old man, presented with multiple ulcers, nodules, abscesses, fistulae, and atrophic scars, over the right chest wall. Six years prior, the patient had a car accident, which resulted in skin loss of the right arm, shoulder, thoracic wall. In addition, he suffered a supracondylar fracture; orthopedic surgery and skin grafts were required.

Progressive disseminated histoplasmosis as a presentation of AIDS in a patient from the Congo: the role of skin biopsy.

Progressive disseminated histoplasmosis is frequently fatal in HIV patients, and the standard diagnostic techniques can cause treatment delay. Skin biopsy can help in the differential diagnosis, allowing also an earlier treatment initiation.