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Biomedical subjects

J Kanitakis

Publications and source records attributed to J Kanitakis.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed2002

Functional melanonychia due to involvement of the nail matrix in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Longitudinal melanonychia is an unusual finding in systemic lupus erythematosus. We report the case of a patient of Arabic extraction with cutaneous lesions of lupus erythematosus on the cheek and chest and longitudinal melanonychia affecting several fingers. Results of histologic examination of the skin and direct immunofluorescence analysis confirmed the diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus. The distal matrix revealed changes suggestive of systemic lupus erythematosus accompanied by increased activity of melanocytes but without melanocytic hyperplasia. In this case, longitudinal melanonychia associated with systemic lupus erythematosus was of functional origin.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Differential expression of the CD10 antigen (neutral endopeptidase) in primary versus metastatic malignant melanomas of the skin.

The CD10 antigen is a neutral endopeptidase expressed by a variety of mesenchymal tumours (haemopoietic or not), including a subset of malignant melanomas. We investigated the expression of CD10 in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue specimens of 72 cutaneous melanomas (28 primary, 26 metastatic to the skin and 18 lymph node metastases). The CD10 antigen was expressed by 18 of the 26 (69%) and 11 of the 18 (61%) melanomas metastatic to the skin or lymph nodes, respectively; in contrast, only six of the 28 primary melanomas (21.4%) expressed appreciable CD10 reactivity, and expression was usually lower (in terms of the percentage of immunoreactive cells) than that found in metastatic tumours. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of CD10 positivity for metastatic malignant melanoma were calculated to be 0.66, 0.79, 0.83 and 0.6, respectively. Our results suggest that the CD10 antigen is upregulated during the process of metastasis in melanomas. From a diagnostic point of view, the expression of CD10 appears to be an additional feature for the histological differential diagnosis between primary and metastatic melanomas.

Biomarkers, Tumor↗
PubMed2002

[Acquired dermal melanocytosis: clinical, pathological and ultrastructural study].

INTRODUCTION: Dermal melanocytosis is characterized by the presence of ectopic melanocytes in the dermis. There are several clinical forms. This report describes an unusual case of acquired dermal melanocytosis probably associated with leptomeningeal melanosis. An ultrastructural study was performed. CASE REPORT: A 52-year-old Caucasian woman presented with a fifteen-year history of slowly spreading gray-blue macular pigmentation, associated with multiple blue nevi. Histologic examination revealed dermal melanocytosis. An extracellular sheath surrounded the melanocyte and their cytoplasmic processes. Medullar magnetic resonance findings were compatible with leptomeningeal melanosis. DISCUSSION: Dermal melanocytosis is thought to represent a disorder of neural crest migration. Melanocytes are thought to be aberrant and become arrested during migration, remaining in the dermis. Reactivation of latent dermal melanocytes should explain the pathogenesis of acquired forms. Ultrastructural examinations show an extracellular sheath enclosing dermal melanocytes in all types of dermal melanocytosis.

Female↗
PubMed2001

[Eccrine neutrophilic hidradenitis: idiopathic plantar form in children].

UNLABELLED: In this study, two cases have been reported of idiopathic plantar hidradenitis, an uncommon dermatological pathology with a spontaneous favorable outcome. OBSERVATIONS: Two children aged 12 and 14 years presented with a painful papulo-nodular plantar rash with major functional impairment. The diagnosis of idiopathic plantar hidradenitis was considered, and then confirmed in one case by plantar biopsy. Non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs, associated with paracetamol in one case were administered. The symptoms disappeared spontaneously within a few days in both cases, without any recurrence. CONCLUSION: A knowledge of the symptoms connected with plantar hidradenitis in the child allows a rapid diagnosis to be made without hospitalization or further medical examination. Analgesic treatment and rest seem to be the only useful approaches. Biopsy to investigate eccrine gland infiltration by neutrophils can only be proposed in the case of an abnormally prolonged duration or an atypical presentation of this pathology.

Acetaminophen↗
PubMed2001

Modulation of substance P and somatostatin receptors in cutaneous lymphocytic inflammatory and tumoral infiltrates.

BACKGROUND: The expression of receptors for neuropeptides in the skin is modified in skin diseases. OBJECTIVE: We studied the cutaneous expression of substance P (SP) and somatostatin (SOM) receptors (SPR and SSTR, respectively) in skin affected by cutaneous inflammatory or tumoral T-cell infiltrates because these two neuropeptides are the ones most involved in inflammation. METHODS: We revealed expression of these receptors using a binding in situ technique that gave highly specific results. Skin biopsies were incubated with biotinylated neuropeptides (SP or SOM). RESULTS: In normal skin, SSTR were observed on blood vessels, smooth muscle fibres and sweat glands. SSTR expression was modified only when expressed by keratinocytes in Ofuji papuloerythroderma and by plasmocytes in plasmocytoma. SPR distribution was not modified in subjects with atopic dermatitis or lupus. The expression of SPR in the epidermis was diminished in Ofuji papuloerythroderma and parapsoriasis and absent in mycosis fungoides. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that malignant lymphocytic infiltrates can inhibit SPR expression on keratinocytes.

Humans↗
PubMed2001

Skin diseases in children with organ transplants.

BACKGROUND: Skin diseases are frequent in organ transplant recipients, but studies concerning children are sparse. OBJECTIVE: We assessed skin diseases in children who had received organ transplants. METHODS: A total of 145 children referred to our dermatologic consultation were studied. RESULTS: Steroid-induced striae distensae and acne occurred only in adolescents; severe cyclosporine-related side effects were more frequent in younger children. The most common findings were warts (53.8%), tinea versicolor (14.5%), herpes simplex/zoster (9.6%), molluscum contagiosum (6.9%), and impetigo contagiosum and folliculitis (6.2%). Other notable disorders included a diffuse hyperpigmentation with a "dirty" appearance of the skin, pyogenic granulomas, melanocytic nevi proliferation, and skin tags. Two of 20 further adult patients who received transplants during childhood had squamous cell carcinomas. CONCLUSION: Children who have received organ transplants frequently present side effects of immunosuppressive drugs and infectious diseases. Most disorders are related to the age of the patients rather than to the length of immunosuppression, whereas others are favored by the reinforcement of immunosuppression. Skin cancers were not encountered, but the risk of carcinomas in early adulthood should be considered.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Cutaneous leiomyomatosis with type 2 segmental involvement.

A 21-year-old man had histologically-confirmed diffuse cutaneous leiomyomatosis. The lesions showed a peculiar distribution in that they predominantly involved several segments of the right side of his body; in addition, less extensive, nonsegmental lesions were present on both sides of the body. Although this case was apparently sporadic, the genetic mechanism of loss of heterozygosity provides a plausible explanation for this unusual presentation. If the patient were heterozygous for the underlying mutation, at an early developmental stage a postzygotic event of loss of heterozygosity would have given rise to a type 2 segmental involvement, resulting in pronounced lesions superimposed on the disseminated tumors of the ordinary phenotype.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Diagnosing Pemphigus foliaceus: a retrospective analysis of clinical, histological and immunological criteria.

BACKGROUND: Clinical, histological and immunological criteria distinguish pemphigus foliaceus (PF) from pemphigus vulgaris (PV), but whether and how often they are concordant in the same patient is unknown. METHODS: Seven clinical records were selected from two hospital settings for having a diagnosis of PF and the initial serum and histopathological specimens still available. Controls were 8 PV records selected in the same way. Histopathological slides were re-evaluated. Stored sera were studied by indirect immunofluorescence (IIF), Western blot and ELISA. RESULTS: Acantholysis was superficial in all PF patients and deep in all PV patients. Mucosal lesions were not exclusive of PV. IIF was positive in 43% of PF patients. Western blot revealed desmoglein 1 in 86% of PF patients and in 25% of PV. ELISA revealed anti-desmoglein-1 antibodies in up to 71% of PF and in 62% of PV patients, in 1 failing to detect anti-desmoglein-3 antibodies. CONCLUSIONS: Histopathology remains the most reliable criterion for diagnosing PF. Western blot and ELISA, especially in combination, may be only of confirmatory value.

Acantholysis↗
PubMed2000

Regeneration of cutaneous innervation in a human hand allograft.

On Sept 23, 1998, a human hand allograft was done in our hospital. We followed up the patients for 24 months to assess the skin structure by immunohistology. Most cutaneous structures (including dermal nerves with their Schwann cells and perineurial fibroblasts) were present immediately after surgery and remained detectable throughout the study; from day 464 onwards, axons became detectable within dermal nerves, and their density increased progressively with time. Merkel cells reappeared in the epidermis 12 months after the operation. The regeneration of cutaneous innervation paralleled the recovery of cutaneous sensitivity.

Antigens, CD34↗
PubMed2000

Sequential histological and immunohistochemical study of the skin of the first human hand allograft.

BACKGROUND: On September 1998, the first human hand allograft was successfully performed in Lyon. METHODS: A 48-year-old white man who had suffered accidental amputation of the arm in 1984, received a forearm and hand allograft from a 42-year-old white male cadaveric heart-beating donor. Immunosuppressive therapy included prednisone, mycophenolate mofetil, FK506, and antithymocyte globulins. Sequential skin biopsies were taken from the grafted limb and examined (immuno)histologically to detect a possible graft rejection and to evaluate the structural integrity of the skin of the allograft. RESULTS: The skin showed histologically a normal appearance, except on days 57 and 63, when a mononuclear perivascular cell infiltrate was observed in the dermis; this appeared concomitantly with erythematous lesions of the skin that developed after a slight decrease of the immunosuppressive treatment. These changes were considered as signs of graft rejection, and were reversed by an increase of the immunosuppressive treatment. No skin necrosis was seen at any time. Immunohistochemically, the main cell types of the skin were present throughout the study. From day 77 onward the epidermis of the grafted hand harbored some epidermal Langerhans cells of recipient's origin. CONCLUSION: This study shows that the skin of the hand allograft maintains overall a normal histological structure and contains most essential cell types, including cells of recipient origin, such as Langerhans cells. Furthermore, it shows that in this system of composite tissue transplantation, skin biopsies may reveal a starting graft rejection, before the appearance of clinically obvious lesions.

Adult↗