Treatment of lichen sclerosus with antibiotics.

Current therapy for lichen sclerosus centers on topical steroids, particularly clobetasol propionate. As some evidence suggests an infectious etiology owing to Borrelia, we studied the effect of penicillin and cephalosporin therapy on patients with lichen sclerosus who had responded poorly to treatment with potent topical corticosteroids. Fifteen patients with lichen sclerosus were treated for 3-21 months with either penicillin or cephalosporins in an observational study.

Disseminated blastomycosis.

A 26-year-old veiled Saudi-Arabian woman presented with hemoptysis, and multiple nodules and abscesses. A skin biopsy specimen revealed yeast forms consistent with Blastomyces dermatitidis. Fungal cultures from bronchoscopy and skin specimens also grew B dermatitidis.