Cutaneous leishmaniasis is rarely seen in the United States. Four Cuban immigrants traveled along the same route at different times from Cuba to Ecuador, then northward, including through the Darién Jungle in Panama. These patients had chronic ulcerative non-healing skin lesions and were given a diagnosis of leishmaniasis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFixed drug eruptions (FDEs), first described by Bourns in 1889, are solitary or multiple, sharply demarcated, round to oval, edematous and erythematous patches that arise after exposure to a specific medication. They can be pink to dark red to brown and can be larger than 10 cm in size. In almost a third of patients in some case series, these lesions have been reported to progress to vesicles or bullae.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFibroepithelioma of Pinkus (FEP) is a rare cutaneous neoplasm. Evidence supports classification as a variant of either basal cell carcinoma (BCC) or trichoblastoma. Reports of FEP arising in sites of preceding radiation therapy have been documented in the literature, but the relationship between radiotherapy and the development of FEP has not yet been defined.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSimple lipomas of the eyelid are rare. We present a case of a 61-year-old man, who presented with 6 months of a slowly worsening blepharoptosis. On examination, that patient was noted to have a palpable, soft mass in the medial left upper eyelid.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPemphigus foliaceus (PF) represents an autoimmune blistering disease characterized by the disruption of epidermal intercellular adhesion proteins. Clinical findings include superficial crusted erosions in a seborrheic distribution; however, the disease can rarely present as an exfoliative erythroderma. Histopathologic findings include acantholysis with cleavage within the granular layer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA 34-year-old, HIV-positive man living in Texas presented with a 2-week history of fever, malaise, myalgias, oral ulcers, and papules on his chest, back, face, and extremities, including the palms. Initially secondary syphilis was suspected. However, RPR was negative.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAssessment of a patient's disease severity is an essential component of formulating therapeutic strategies. However, disorders of the skin are often not amenable to strict classification criteria, and the dermatologist relies upon personal thresholds of severity when assessing the patient's overall condition. A number of grading systems have arisen, primarily from the need for standardized end points in clinical trials; in some circumstances, these severity assessments may assist the clinician in the evaluation and treatment of dermatologic disease.
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