Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to P A Sica.
Being able to recognize and treat a dermatologic emergency is extremely important to the primary care physician. This ability is very rewarding for the patient and gratifying to the physician. In this article, some of the more commonly encountered emergencies are discussed.
Disseminate cutaneous and osseous sporotrichosis is reported in a patient who failed to respond to 6 months of iodide therapy. Although the patient showed improvement on a 2-month course of amphotericin B, he experienced a fulminant relapse 12 days after the amphotericin B was stopped. Cure was achieved after 6 months of 5-fluorocytosine (8 gm/day) in conjunction with amphotericin B (total, 4.8 gm). The fluorocytosine was continued for an entire year. Two years after all treatment was discontinued the patient remained in good health. The only complication was a marked photosensitivity associated with the 5-fluorocytosine therapy. This is the second case of such photosensitivity in the literature.