[Elastosis perforans serpiginosa in a patient with pseudoxanthoma elasticum].

A 34-year-old female previously diagnosed of pseudoxanthoma elasticum developed an annular plaque with serpiginous borders of 42 by 30 mm in diameter on the inner left arm. A similar lesion later appeared on the inner right arm. Histopathological examination of a papule showed short, fragmented, granular, basophilic and calcified elastic fibers in the mid-reticular dermis.

Clinical, histopathologic, and therapeutic aspects of subepidermal autoimmune bullous diseases with IgG on the floor of salt-split skin.

Background: About 12% of patients with subepidermal autoimmune bullous disease and immunoglobulin G (IgG) at the dermal-epidermal junction present diseases other than bullous pemphigoid.

Materials And Methods: We report the clinical, histopathologic, and therapeutic aspects of eight cases of subepidermal bullous disorder with IgG on the floor of salt-split skin.

Results: A predominant neutrophilic infiltrate was detected in six of the eight patients.

Amelanotic lentigo maligna melanoma: report of a case and review of the literature.

Amelanotic lentigo maligna melanoma (ALMM) is an infrequent presentation of lentigo maligna melanoma, less than thirty cases having been reported to date. Hypopigmented or erythematous macules on the face of older women, resembling Bowen's disease or eczema, are the most common clinical presentation. We report a case of ALMM in a 73-year-old woman.

Repeat direct immunofluorescence (DIF) test, using, 1 M NaCl treated skin, in the subepidermal autoimmune bullous diseases that contain IgG at the dermal epidermal junction.

Knowledge of autoimmune bullous diseases has greatly increased with the recognition of new entities, and the use of the direct immunofluorescence (DIF) using 1 molar per liter of sodium chloride (1 M NaCl) treated skin has been proposed. To estimate the frequency with which the different DIF patterns are present, we performed a systematic study of the skin or oral mucosa samples in which linear deposits of IgG at the basement membrane zone were detected by routine DIF in the last 6 years. The DIF tests were done on 56 samples before and after splitting the epidermis from the dermis with 1M NaCl.

[Mucocutaneous manifestations in acute HIV infection. 3 case reports].

We report three patients who developed a generalized rash with oral, genital or perianal ulcerations as a result of acute infection due to HIV. The primary infection was diagnosed by seroconversion (by means of EIA and Western blot techniques). Definitive diagnosis was established on days 52, 85 and 97 after the appearance of the rash.

Kaposi's sarcoma in a patient with erythroblastopenia and thymoma: reactivation after topical corticosteroids.

We report a 69-year-old female with erythroblastopenia and thymoma who developed lesions of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) after thymectomy, 2 months after the initiation of therapy with methylprednisolone. Control of mucocutaneous KS lesions was obtained with radiotherapy, interferon alfa-2b and withdrawal of systemic immunosuppressive therapy. Erosive oral lichen planus appeared later, and after therapy with topical corticosteroids a new lesion of KS developed that regressed after withdrawal of topical corticosteroids.

Multiple follicular hamartomas with sweat gland and sebaceous differentiation, vermiculate atrophoderma, milia, hypotrichosis, and late development of multiple basal cell carcinomas.

We describe a 46-year-old woman with multiple symmetrical papulocystic lesions on the face, neck, chest, back, and upper arms since childhood. Vermiculate atrophoderma, entropion, and progressive loss of eyelashes was also noted. Since the age of 30, 12 basal cell carcinomas have developed on the face.

Clinically prescribed sunscreen (sun protection factor 15) does not decrease serum vitamin D concentration sufficiently either to induce changes in parathyroid function or in metabolic markers.

Some studies have suggested that the use of sunscreens to prevent skin cancer may put the population at risk of vitamin D deficiency. We followed 24 sunscreen users and 19 controls over 2 years, including two summers, two winters and a basal period (winter). Vitamin D, parathormone and bone biological markers were evaluated each season.

[Multiple and unilateral angiofibromas of the face: forme fruste of Bourneville tuberous sclerosis].

Background: Multiple facial angiofibromas are considered a characteristic and pathognomonic feature of tuberous sclerosis. In contrast, the observation of localized multiple angiofibromas limited to one side of the face is a uncommon.

Observations: We cared for two patients with multiple clustered unilateral angiofibromas (although one patient also presented a few angiofibromas on the other side) without other features associated with the sclerosis tuberous complex.

Occurrence of hepoxilins and trioxilins in psoriatic lesions.

We recently found that normal human epidermis produces relatively high amounts of hepoxilins and trioxilins in vitro. Therefore, the aim of this study was to demonstrate the presence of these compounds in psoriatic lesions. Extracts from scales of patients with chronic stable plaque psoriasis were analyzed by a combination of high performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry techniques.

Brooke-Spiegler syndrome variant: segregation of tumor types with mixed differentiation in two generations.

Brooke-Spiegler syndrome (BSS) is an autosomal dominantly inherited disease characterized by the development of multiple trichoepitheliomas and cylindromas. Other lesions have been reported to occur in patients with BSS, including parotid basal cell adenomas, milia, organoid nevi, basal cell carcinomas, and spiradenomas. Spiradenomas and cylindromas have so many features in common that they have been regarded as polar extremes belonging to a spectrum of cutaneous adnexal neoplasms.

Pityriasis lichenoides in children: clinicopathologic review of 22 patients.

Pityriasis lichenoides (PL) is a cutaneous disease of unknown origin, with an autoinvolutive course, that can occur in pediatric patients. Traditionally, acute and chronic variants have been described, but other special forms of presentation have been reported. We reviewed the clinical records and histopathologic specimens of all pediatric patients diagnosed with PL in our hospital from 1980 to 1995 to assess the clinicopathologic features of this disorder in our environment.

Histopathological changes of primary HIV infection. Description of three cases and review of the literature.

The histopathological changes observed in the cutaneous rash of three patients who suffered the acute phase of HIV infection are described. In all three patients a perivascular and interstitial inflammatory infiltrate was present in the upper and mid-reticular dermis. In one biopsy isolated areas of epidermal necrosis were observed and in the two other biopsies a perifollicular inflammatory infiltrate was detected with perforation in one case.

Multiple idiopathic mucosal neuromas: a minor form of multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2B or a new entity?

Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2B (MEN 2B) is a rare autosomal dominant process characterized by medullary thyroid carcinoma, pheochromocytoma, and mucosal neuromas. A point mutation at codon 918 of the RET protooncogene has been observed in approximately 90% of patients and families with MEN 2B. Mucosal neuromas are the most consistent and distinctive feature (100% of patients) of MEN 2B and are considered pathognomonic.

[Hematologic deficiencies in patients with recurrent oral aphthae].

Background: The prevalence of iron, folic acid and vitamin B12 deficiencies and their role in the development of recurrent oral ulcerations is not well known. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of these deficiencies in our patients.

Patients And Methods: Iron, folic acid and vitamin B12 levels were studied in 80 patients with recurrent oral ulcerations (ROU) and the results were compared with a control group of 29 patients with different oral diseases.

Systemic lupus erythematosus presenting with red lunulae.

Red lunulae have been observed in association with a large spectrum of cutaneous and systemic diseases. We describe a 13-year-old girl with painful red lunulae of the fingernails who subsequently developed systemic lupus erythematosus. The appearance of Beau's lines suggested inflammation of the nail matrix.

Detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA in lobular granulomatous panniculitis (erythema induratum-nodular vasculitis).

Objective: To determine, using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification, if Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex DNA is present in the skin biopsy specimens of lobular granulomatous panniculitis.

Design: A retrospective descriptive study.

Setting: A university-based hospital.

Masson's intravascular papillary endothelial hyperplasia mimicking Stewart-Treves syndrome: report of a case.

Masson's intravascular papillary endothelial hyperplasia, also called Masson's pseudoangiosarcoma, represents a benign vascular proliferation, presently considered as a peculiar histopathologic reaction pattern of the endothelium to diverse stimuli. Differentiation from angiosarcoma represents the main diagnostic concern. We report a case of Masson's intravascular papillary endothelial hyperplasia presenting in a 55-year-old woman with ipsilateral lymphedema secondary to surgery and radiation therapy for breast carcinoma.