[Erythema chronicum migrans associated with arthritis].
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to O J Clemmensen.
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Suction blister fluid from the abdominal skin of 14 healthy subjects was examined for the presence of split products of complement C3 (C3-split) as an indicator of complement activation before and after treatment with either UVA or PUVA. Following PUVA a significant increase in C3-split was found (p less than 0.05) in both irradiated and non-irradiated skin areas. Following UVA the increase in C3-split was less pronounced. The activation of complement may play an important role in the maintenance of the delayed erythema that appears after irradiation with long-wave ultraviolet light.
Of six patients treated with thalidomide for either prurigo nodularis or discoid lupus erythematosus, four had paresthesias in the hands and feet and one also complained of muscular pain and stiffness. Clinical neurological findings in all four patients were normal. Subsequent electrophysiological examination disclosed a peripheral neuropathy in five of the six patients; two had electrophysiological signs of a polyneuropathy and three of a carpal tunnel syndrome. Symptoms and abnormal electrophysiological findings were still present in one patient one year after the discontinuation of thalidomide therapy. Since reports on thalidomide neurotoxicity have shown that the neurological symptoms are long standing and possibly irreversible, it is obviously important to inform patients of this possible side effect and to evaluate them closely for the symptoms and electrophysiological signs of evolving neurological changes.
Six patients with long-standing, moderately active plaque/nummular psoriasis were treated with either plasmapheresis or sham-plasmapheresis once weekly for 7 weeks in a double-blind controlled trial. No difference was found between active treatment and placebo. The marginal effect, which might be demonstrated by a larger study, is too small to justify this expensive modality of treatment.
Thirteen patients with stage I or II mycosis fungoides (MF) and 10 patients with large-plaque parapsoriasis en plaques (PEP) were examined for immunologic and cytogenetic disturbances. Total lymphocyte counts and immunoglobulin concentrations in the blood were normal. In vitro lymphocyte responses to polyclonal activators and various antigens in standard concentrations were normal. However, titration of phytohemagglutinin and concanavalin A (ConA) disclosed significantly lowered responses to suboptimal concentrations in the patient group, most pronounced in patients with MF II. ConA-induced leukocyte migration inhibitory factor (LIF) production, tested in an indirect leukocyte migration inhibitory assay, was low in the patient group. Furthermore spontaneous LIF production in vitro and small amounts of serum LIF were demonstrated in a few patients. The chromosomal banding pattern, sister chromatid exchange, and break frequency were within normal limits except for 3 translocations in the MF group. It is concluded that even in early-stage MF a pathologic function of blood lymphocytes can be demonstrated, when sensitive methods are applied. The findings might be important for monitoring disease activity and effect of treatment.
Thirty patients with recurrent suppurative hidradenitis entered a double blind trial to evaluate the effect of topical clindamycin against placebo in hidradenitis. Twenty seven patients concluded the 3 months' treatment. The overall effect of clindamycin treatment based on patients' assessments, number of abscesses, inflammatory nodules and pustules was significantly better than placebo at each monthly evaluation (P less than 0.01). When each parameter was evaluated separately, clindamycin was significantly superior to placebo except for inflammatory nodules and abscesses on the second and third months' evaluation. No side effects were recorded and the treatment was easy to administer. Topical clindamycin may be helpful prior to radical surgery or spontaneous remission.
The results of a double-blind prospective study on patients with uncomplicated psoriasis (Ps), psoriasis with arthritis (PA) and a control group (C) are reported. The three groups were matched for age and sex. In the Ps and C groups no significant difference of the radiographic and scintigraphic results was found. The PA group showed significantly more scintigraphic accumulations compared to the two other groups, but no connection between scintigraphy and joint symptoms was found. The patients in the Ps and PA groups were treated with zinc sulfate per os for 8 weeks with no change in the radiographic findings. The PA group showed less and the Ps group more scintigraphic lesions after treatment. During treatment a small but significant decrease in hemoglobin, serum iron and gamma globulin was shown.
The relevance of a positive chromium patch test in females with hand eczema is very often obscure. In order to investigate the exposure to chromium in an everyday event as cleaning, the chromium content of water samples from various steps of the cleaning process in a Danish hospital was analyzed. During cleaning the chromium contamination increased above the theoretical limit necessary for sensitization. House dust contains considerable amounts of chromium, and will readily liberate it into suspension. All the chromium was found in the trivalent form.
Fourteen patients with Lyme disease showed typical clinical features of erythema chronicum migrans. Eighteen biopsy specimens in all were obtained from the cutaneous lesions of these patients. The predominant histologic finding was a superficial and deep perivascular and interstitial infiltrate composed mostly of lymphocytes, or lymphocytes and either plasma cells and eosinophils or both. The plasma cells were found most frequently in biopsy specimens taken from the peripheries of the lesions, whereas eosinophils were found mostly in the centers of lesions. With the Warthin-Starry silver stain, spirochetes were found mostly at the borders of the lesions an in biopsy specimens containing plasma cells. Spirochetes were subsequently cultured from a typical skin lesion of erythema chronicum migrans. These findings corroborate previous indirect evidence that a spirochete might be the cause of Lyme disease.
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A mixed B-cell type centroblastic lymphoma with extraordinarily many histiocytes in a 68-year-old man is reported. Multiple skin tumours were the only clinical manifestation during the first 5 months. The disease then progressed to the lymph nodes, spleen, and parenchymal organs, but the bone marrow remained unaffected until death, 11 months after the onset of signs. C3d receptors were the only surface markers of the centroblasts. The histiocytes were normal with respect to morphology, muramidase staining, and Fc and C3b receptors. This highly unusual spread from skin to lymphoid and parenchymal organs is discussed in the light of lymphoid cell kinetics.
The Capillary characteristics of the nail fold area were examined and compared by capillary microscopy in 31 patients with psoriasis (PS) and 34 patients with psoriatic arthritis (PA). 70 healthy persons served as controls. Significantly shorter mean capillary loop lengths and characteristic morphological capillary changes were found both in patients with PS and in patients with PA as compared to the controls. The number of hemorrhages and sluggishness of blood flow was more pronounced in both groups of patients as compared to the control group, but only significantly so in patients with PA. The only significant difference between the PS and the PA groups was a higher subpapillary plexus visibility (SPV) index in the latter. It is concluded that most of the capillary changes demonstrable in patients with PA are clinical manifestations of PS. The difference in the SPV index, however, warrants a follow-up study to elucidate whether patients with PS and a high SPV index are likely to develop arthritis.
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The distribution and degradation of albumin were determined in twelve patients with extensive skin disease and in ten control subjects by measuring the metabolic turnover and transcapillary escape of 132 I-labelled albumin. The ratio of intravascular to total mass of albumin was normal. Thus the observed hypoalbuminaemia and the low intravascular mass reflect a reduced mass of total body albumin. The rate of synthesis was normal, but the transcapillary escape rate reflecting the microvascular leakiness to macromolecules, and the fractional disappearance rate were significantly higher in the patients than in the controls (P less than 0.001). It is concluded that the hypoalbuminaemia in these patients is the result of an increased endogenous catabolism of albumin without significant loss via urine, stools or skin. A positive correlation between the transcapillary escape rate and fractional catabolic rate of albumin supports the concept of a causal relationship between these parameters.