Sézary Syndrome Presenting With Renal Involvement.

Sézary syndrome is a rare aggressive leukemic variant of primary cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, typically presenting with erythroderma, lymphadenopathy, and an atypical clonal T-cell population. Though it often involves the spleen and liver, we report a case of Sézary syndrome with renal involvement that was treated successfully. Visceral involvement confers a poor prognosis requiring systemic treatment.

From folklore to pharmacy: Putting plants into practice.

The use of medicinal plants is as old as the hills (and valleys and plains) where they grow. In this brief review, we have set out to emphasize the need for rigor in the assessment of any medicines-whatever their source-as we seek to translate apparently important observations on the efficacy of plant concoctions into real-time clinical practice for the benefit of our fellow men and women. We shall use examples of recently studied compounds that have touched the world of dermatology to illustrate some of the pitfalls and also to draw attention to some of the successes in moving from "folklore to pharmacy.

U.K. consensus statement on safe clinical prescribing of bexarotene for patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.

Background: Bexarotene is a synthetic retinoid from the subclass of retinoids called rexinoids which selectively activate retinoid X receptors. It has activity in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) and has been approved by the European Medicines Agency since 1999 for treatment of the skin manifestations of advanced-stage (IIB-IVB) CTCL in adult patients refractory to at least one systemic treatment. In vivo bexarotene produces primary hypothyroidism which may be managed with thyroxine replacement.