Characteristics of psoriasis in Greece: an epidemiological study of a population in a sunny Mediterranean climate.

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease with important socioeconomic consequences. Data on psoriasis prevalence in Greece is scarce and circumstantially reported. The aim of this study was the recording of psoriatic patients' demographic data, clinical characteristics of the disease, and exacerbating factors.

An alternate-day corticosteroid regimen for pemphigus vulgaris. A 13-year prospective study.

Background: Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) at the early, usually oral and relatively stable stage, represents the majority of PV patients. Treatment modalities usually do not differ compared to those for the fully established disease.

Objectives: To prospectively assess a standardized and effective therapeutic approach that aims at less morbidity due to adverse reactions.

Intermittent vs. continuous 1-year cyclosporin use in chronic plaque psoriasis.

Objective: To comparatively assess the impact of intermittent and continuous cyclosporine (CyA) administration in chronic plaque psoriasis.

Methods: A two-step procedure was followed for the 51 patients who were randomly assigned in the study. CyA in doses 2.

Epidemiologic survey of pemphigus vulgaris with oral manifestations in northern Greece: retrospective study of 129 patients.

Objective: To evaluate the epidemiology of pemphigus vulgaris (PV) in a Greek population and to compare it with other countries.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective study was conducted based on the records of 129 patients (41 males and 88 females) with PV who visited the Department of the Oral Medicine and Maxillofacial Pathology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece and the State Hospital for Skin and Venereal Diseases of Thessaloniki, Greece, between 1985 and 2004. A group of 73 individuals was used as controls.

Radical excision and mesh-skin grafting for giant anorectal condyloma acuminatum.

BACKGROUND Giant Condyloma Acuminatum (GCA) presents difficulties in therapeutic management, mainly due to local invasion and recurrences. Treatment measures vary from topical agents to aggressive methods such as surgical excision, radiation, laser surgery, chemotherapy, immunotherapy or their combination. METHOD A 48-year-old heterosexual, HIV-negative male with a 20 year-year history of GCA, following an unsuccessful surgical operation, underwent radical excision with immediate mesh-skin grafting.

Impetigo herpetiformis: menstrual exacerbations for 7 years postpartum.

Impetigo herpetiformis (IH) is a rare pustular dermatosis that shares striking clinical and histological similarities to generalized pustular psoriasis. The case of a 26-year-old primigravida with IH progressing in the 30th week of her pregnancy is presented. The peculiarity of our presentation relies on the reappearance of the disease postpartum.

Hypertrophic and keloidal scars: an approach to polytherapy.

Background: Cryotherapy and intralesional corticosteroids have been used separately or in combination as a treatment for hypertrophic and keloidal scars. The addition of silicone gel to the treatment schedule might be of interest.

Methods: Twenty patients with hypertrophic and keloidal scars received two 15-s cycles (in total 30 s) of cryotherapy treatments at every session (once monthly for 12 months) with intralesional injections of trimcinolone acetonide 0.

Comparison of chloroxylenol 0.5% plus salicylic acid 2% cream and benzoyl peroxide 5% gel in the treatment of acne vulgaris: a randomized double-blind study.

A 12-week double-blind randomized study was performed to compare benzoyl peroxide 5% (BP) gel and chloroxylenol 0.5% plus salicylic acid 2% (PCMX + SA) cream (Nisal cream) for efficacy and adverse reactions. Thirty-seven volunteers participated in the study, 19 in the BP group and 18 in the PCMX + SA group.

Acute hemorrhagic pellagra in an Albanian refugee.

We report a peculiar case of hemorrhagic pellagra in an exhausted Albanian refugee who had walked for 3 days under sunny skies on his way from his country to Greece. The peculiarities of the case are the fulminant course of the disorder; the "terrifying" appearance of the patient (initially he was admitted to an emergency unit); the gangrenous appearance of the hemorrhagic lesions of the palms and fingernails; the disturbed hepatic function that gradually returned to normal; and the absence of a history of alcohol consumption, alcohol malabsorption, or drug intake.

Onychomycosis in Northern Greece during 1994-1998.

In the 5-year period 1994-1998, 13957 patients were examined in the Mycological Laboratory of the State Hospital for Skin and Venereal Diseases, in Thessaloniki, Greece. Of the 2766 patients presenting with onychomycoses (20%), 67% were women and 33% were men. In the toenail infections, dermatophytes were most often isolated (72.

Value of routine diagnostic criteria of bullous pemphigoid.

Background And Design: The clinical, histologic, and direct (DIF) and indirect (IIF) immunofluorescence findings are used in a critical, although arbitrary, manner in the routine diagnostic process of bullous pemphigoid (BP). Our purpose was to estimate their relative value. In the present retrospective study, a follow-up of at least 18 months was used as a prerequisite for the final diagnosis of BP (63 patients) and controls (n=159).

Plasmapheresis in toxic epidermal necrolysis.

Background: The treatment of toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) is usually based on the removal of the offending drug(s), fluid replacement, nutritional support, and local management. The mortality and morbidity, however, remain high and the death rate may be reduced to 10% only in special centers that use biologic dressings. Plasma exchange (PE) was proven efficacious in small series of patients and of no particular value in others.

Cutaneous alternariosis in an immunocompromised patient.

A case of cutaneous alternariosis in a 68-year-old male farmer is presented. The patient had been treated with prednisone and azathioprine for thrombocytopenic purpura, and two months later he noted multiple ulcerated and slightly infiltrated granulomatous lesions on exposed areas. The diagnosis was confirmed by results of direct examination, culture of biopsy material, and histologic examination.

The treatment of pemphigus vulgaris. Experience with 48 patients seen over an 11-year period.

We present a retrospective analysis of 48 patients with pemphigus vulgaris (PV) who were seen between 1978 and 1988. They were divided into three treatment groups: 25 (group A) received 40-100 mg of oral prednisone daily; eight (group B) received > 100 mg of prednisone daily; 15 (group C) received 40 mg of oral prednisone every other day and azathioprine 100 mg daily. A second immunosuppressive agent was subsequently added to the treatment regimen of three patients in group A and eight patients in group B.

Eosinophils in oral and cutaneous lesions of erythema multiforme.

The purpose of this retrospective clinicopathologic study was to investigate the presence of eosinophils in oral and skin lesions of erythema multiforme. Seventeen cases were selected which fulfilled clinical and histopathologic criteria for the disease. Twelve out of 13 sections taken from skin biopsies and 4 out of 5 sections taken from oral lesions contained eosinophils in varying densities.