Efficacy of fractional CO laser with intralesional steroid compared with intralesional steroid alone in the treatment of keloids and hypertrophic scars.

Background And Objective: Keloids and hypertrophic scars (HTS) are abnormal fibrous reactions that persist for prolonged periods, rarely regress without treatment and recur after excision. Many modalities of treatment have been advocated but the success rates of these have been variable. The present study is an attempt to evaluate and compare the efficacy of combination of fractional CO laser (FCL) and intralesional steroid (ILS) against ILS alone in the treatment of keloids and HTS.

Low Vitamin D in Psoriasis: Reality or Myth?

Context: Psoriasis is a chronic, systemic disease with the beneficial effect of topical vitamin D3 analogs, known for a long time. Low levels of vitamin D are increasingly found to be associated with the initial development of some autoimmune diseases. There are contradictory reports of low serum levels of vitamin D3 in the pathogenesis of psoriasis.

Discoid lupus erythematosus with squamous cell carcinoma: a case report and review of the literature in Indian patients.

We report a case of a patient with localized discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE) who was found to have high-grade squamous dysplasia (carcinoma in situ) over the upper lip. This report also consists of a brief review of 16 other cases of DLE with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) we came across while going through the literature in an Indian scenario.Incidence of SCC over DLE in the Indian population is found to be 0.

A simple instrument designed to provide consistent digital facial images in dermatology.

Photography has proven to be a valuable tool in the field of dermatology. The major reason for poor photographs is the inability to produce comparable images in the subsequent follow ups. Combining digital photography with image processing software analysis brings consistency in tracking serial images.

Efficacy and safety of erbium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet fractional resurfacing laser for treatment of facial acne scars.

Background: Treatment of acne scars with ablative fractional laser resurfacing has given good improvement. But, data on Indian skin are limited. A study comparing qualitative, quantitative, and subjective assessments is also lacking.

Zoonotic sporotrichosis of lymphocutaneous type in a man acquired from a domesticated feline source: report of a first case in southern Karnataka, India.

Background: Sporotrichosis is commonly encountered due to traumatic implantation of thorns or decayed vegetation with the dimorphic fungi, Sporothrix schenckii. Zoonotic spread of Sporotrichosis is rare and we describe here the first case of feline transmission of lymphocutaneous sporotrichiosis encountered in India.

Methods: An excision biopsy of nodulo-ulcerative lesion from the patients right elbow and forearm were collected for histopathology and portion of the specimen processed for mycological work up.

Childhood herpes zoster: a clustering of ten cases.

Herpes zoster occurs due to reactivation of the latent varicella zoster virus and is usually a disease of the elderly. Childhood herpes zoster is believed to be rare, though recent studies suggest increasing incidence in children. Here we report ten cases of childhood herpes zoster, seven of which occurred within a short span of six months, at a tertiary care level hospital in Pokhara, Nepal.

Erythema nodosum leprosum as the presenting feature in multibacillary leprosy.

Leprosy is an ancient disease that has survived into the modern ages despite an intense effort to eliminate it worldwide. Here we report a case of a 32-year-old woman who had recurrent painful nodules of six months duration. Because of a lack of lesions suggestive of leprosy, she was initially diagnosed to have cutaneous vasculitis and erythema nodosum.

Vesiculobullous lesions in lipoid proteinosis: a case report.

Vesiculobullous disorders in a child can be a diagnostic challenge. Common causes of blisters in early childhood include genodermatoses like epidermolysis bullosa and infections like herpes simplex. Lipoid proteinosis may rarely present with vesiculobullous lesions in childhood.

Localized and persistent erythema nodosum leprosum - a rare variant?

Erythema nodosum leprosum (ENL) or Type-2 Lepra reaction is a manifestation of type III hypersensitivity response and usually occurs in certain cases of lepromatous and borderline lepromatous leprosy. It is usually generalized and evanescent, and responds well to oral corticosteroid therapy. Here we report an unusual case of persistent and localized ENL in a 19-year-old girl, which could be diagnosed with the aid of skin biopsy and histopathological examination.

Unusual presentation of generalized macular amyloidosis in a young adult.

Macular amyloidosis is a common problem seen dermatology out-patient department. Generalized macular amyloidosis presenting with a poikilodermatous appearance is rare. In our case, an 18-year-old male presented with generalized hypopigmented macules with a poikilodermatous appearance of 10-year duration.

Thoracopulmonary actinomycosis: the masquerader.

Thoracopulmonary actinomycosis can mimic various lung pathologies such as bronchogenic carcinoma, tuberculosis and fungal pneumonia, to name but a few. The common causative agent is Actinomyces israelii. The disease is successfully diagnosed only if there is a high index of suspicion and a thorough evaluation with multidisciplinary involvement.

Epithelioid sarcoma: a diagnostic challenge.

Epithelioid sarcoma is an uncommon slow-growing soft tissue malignancy, associated with a high incidence of local recurrence and metastasis. We report a 26-year-old male with epithelioid sarcoma on the right palm with a long history of over seven years, which was initially misdiagnosed as cutaneous tuberculosis and epithelioid hemangioendothelioma, as a result of which the treatment was delayed. No metastasis was found in our patient.