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Six patients with acneiform eruptions in the predilection sites of pityriasis versicolor are briefly described. Histologically there were abscesses below the acroinfundibulum wherein yeasts could be found with the characteristics of pityrosporum orbiculare. The possible pathogenity of these fungi is discussed.
The epidemiology of Malassezia genus is poorly understood; geographical and population factors might have influence on the species distribution. The aim of this work was to determine the frequency of Malassezia species involved in skin diseases in a diagnostic center at Buenos Aires City. From 02/01/1999 to 10/31/2001, 456 skin specimens from 447 patients diagnosed as pityriasis versicolor, seborrheic dermatitis, foliculitis and atopic dermatitis, were analyzed by microscopic examination and culture. Malassezia spp was evidenced in 255 skin samples (55.9%) by microscopic analysis but it could be recovered from only 99 (38.8%) specimens. Malassezia species were isolated from 10 (3.9%) scarring lesions that were negative by microscopy. Among 109 isolates, M. sympodialis (58.7%) was the most frequent, followed by M. globosa and M. furfur (18.3% and 9.2%). Unique isolates (0.9%) of M. obtusa, M. slooffiae and M. restricta were recovered. Eleven isolates (10.1%) could not be identified because they had lost viability in the culture. This is the first study on Malassezia species associated to skin diseases in Argentina; further screening including other geographic regions of the country is necessary in order to confirm these results.
The experience reported in the literature with cyclosporin A (CyA) in the treatment of various inflammatory and autoimmune dermatological diseases is reviewed and compared with the authors' own experience of treating 36 patients presenting with psoriatic arthritis [8], generalized pustular psoriasis [2], palmoplantar pustular psoriasis [12], Behçet's disease [2], disseminated circumscribed scleroderma [2], acrodermatitis continua suppurativa [2], pemphigus vulgaris [1], lupus erythematosus [3], pyoderma gangrenosum [1], severe atopic eczema [2], and actinic reticuloid [1]. On the basis of the authors' own experience and the reported results, treatment with CyA appears to be primarily indicated in pyoderma gangrenosum, circumscribed scleroderma, psoriatic arthritis and acrodermatitis continua suppurativa. In diseases such as actinic reticuloid, Behçet's disease, localized and generalized pustular psoriasis, treatment with CyA leads to good results with an acceptable risk-benefit ratio. In our view, it is doubtful whether treatment with CyA alone is indicated in alopecia areata, lichen ruber, dermatomyositis, atopic eczema, systemic scleroderma, bullous diseases, and lupus erythematosus, and in the last two it should be given only in combination with systemic steroids. Literature reports provide no support for the use of CyA in ichthyosis vulgaris, pityriasis rubra pilaris, and cutaneous T-cell lymphomas. The risk-benefit ratio of CyA treatment should be carefully considered, especially in diseases that are not life-threatening.
BACKGROUND: The yeast Malassezia spp has an established etiological role in pityriasis versicolor, folliculitis, systemic infections and onychomycosis. AIM: To assess the presence of Malassezia spp in patients with seborrheic dermatitis (SD), to find a correlation between Malassezia spp count and the severity of the disease and to compare the prevalence of the different Malassezia species in SD patients and subjects without skin lesions. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Scrapings of the face from 81 patients with SD (69 males) and 79 subjects (54 males) without skin lesions were obtained for a direct microscope examination and yeast culture. RESULTS: The yeast Malassezia was found in 76% of SD patients and in 82% of subjects without skin lesions. There was a positive correlation between the number of yeasts found on direct examination and the clinical severity of lesions in SD patients. Although this correlation was statistically significant (P = 0.046), the degree of association (rho = 0.22) was weak. Fifty Malassezia species were identified. M globosa was found in 67% of SD patients, followed by M furfur and M sympodialis, each present in 16.5% of the SD patients. In subjects without skin lesions, the most prevalent species were M globosa (77%), followed by M sympodialis (12%), M slooffiae (7%) and M furfur (4%). CONCLUSIONS: The presence of the yeast Malassezia is not associated with the presence of skin lesions.
In 122 patients with fungal diseases studied over a six month period, sixty were seen with dermatophyte infections. Tinea pedis, cruris and ungruium occurred mainly in adult males attending the private hospital and tinea corporis and capitis children attending the University Hospital. The organisms found were Trichophyton rubrum, T. mentagrophytes, T. schonleinii, T. tonsurans, Epidermophyton floccosum and Microsporum canis. Infections with Candida albicans occurred both in the urban and rural population and included case of familial chronic muco-cutaneous candidiasis. Pityriasis versicolor was the commonest fungal disease seen.
OBJECTIVE: To assess the value of methylene blue and parker ink staining in the detection of Malassezia. METHODS: Detecting Malassezia in three dermatoses samples (pityriasis versicolor, Malassezia folliculitis and dandruff) stained by methylene blue (3 g/L) or parker ink. Comparing the effectiveness and the positive rates of Malassezia detection between the two staining methods. Staining Malassezia and Candida and comparing the specificity of the two staining methods in staining Malassezia. RESULTS: Dark blue hyphae and spores were observed in smears stained by methylene blue, and light blue hyphae and spores were observed in smears stained by parker ink. Hyphae and spores were easy to identify on the background. The positive rates of methylene blue and parker ink for detecting Malassezia in the three dermatoses were 96% and 94% respectively. There was no significant difference between the two dye liquors in the positive rate for deterting Malassezia. Both Malassezia and Candida could be stained by methylene blue; nevertheless, only Malassezia could be stained by parker ink. CONCLUSION: Both methylene blue and parker ink staining can be used to detect Malassezia, but parker ink has higher specificity in Malassezia staining.
This study was undertaken to determine the pattern of dermatoses in children in south India. All children <14 years presenting to us between May 2001 and June 2002 were recruited. A total of 2100 children (males -995; females- 1105) with 2144 dermatoses were recorded. Infections and infestations were the most common dermatoses (54.5%) followed by dermatitis and eczema (8.6%), pigmentary disorders (5.7%), insect bite reaction (5.27%), hair and nail disorders (5.2%), miliaria (4.1%), nutritional deficiency disorders (2.8%), urticaria (2.5%), genetic disorders (2.1%), psoriasis (1.4%), collagen vascular disorders (0.5%), hemangiomas (0.5%), drug eruptions (0.3%), pityriasis rosea (0.2%) and others (5.8%). Pyodermas were the most common dermatoses (47.13%) followed by scabies (30.6%) amongst infections and infestations. Atopic dermatitis was noticed only in 3 patients. Insect bite reactions (papular urticaria) (5.27%) and miliaria (4.1%) were attributed to the tropical weather conditions in this coastal area. Genetic disorders including ichthyosis and palmoplantar keratoderma contributed to 2.1% of cases and could be due to the high incidence of consanguinous marriages in this society.
Sulfur has antifungal, antibacterial, and keratolytic activity. In the past, its use was widespread in dermatological disorders such as acne vulgaris, rosacea, seborrheic dermatitis, dandruff, pityriasis versicolor, scabies, and warts. Adverse events associated with topically applied sulfur are rare and mainly involve mild application site reactions. Sulfur, used alone or in combination with agents such as sodium sulfacetamide or salicylic acid, has demonstrated efficacy in the treatment of many dermatological conditions.
Ciclopirox (Loprox) is a broad-spectrum antifungal medication that also has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. Its main mode of action is thought to be its high affinity for trivalent cations, which inhibit essential co-factors in enzymes. Clinical trials have shown that ciclopirox gel is a successful treatment for seborrheic dermatitis of the scalp as well as for tinea pedis. Adverse effects are generally mild and include a skin-burning sensation, contact dermatitis, and pruritus. Ciclopirox is indicated in the US for the treatment of tinea pedis, tinea corporis, pityriasis versicolor, seborrheic dermatitis, and cutaneous candidiasis.
Malassezia furfur is a lipophilic yeast considered as a normal component of the human skin flora. Apart from pityriasis versicolor, M. furfur has been linked to several skin diseases such as seborrheic dermatitis, folliculitis or atopic dermatitis. Moreover, these yeasts have been reported as agent of invasive human diseases including pneumonia, catheter-associated sepsis and peritonitis. The existence of morphological, serological, metabolical, biochemical and karyotipical differences has been described among isolates of these yeasts. These observations gave arguments for a possible intraspecific division, and this hypothesis has been confirmed by the existence of six species within the formerly called M. furfur (lipid-dependent Malassezia strains): M. furfur, Malassezia sympodialis, Malassezia globosa, Malassezia obtusa, Malassezia restricta and Malassezia slooffiae.
Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common skin disease in Thai children. There is no clinical or laboratory gold standard for the diagnosis. It is generally based on the guideline proposed by Hanifin and Rajka. Many studies have shown that some criteria are probably not all that significant in making the diagnosis. This study was designed to evaluate the frequency and diagnostic significance of clinical features of AD in Thai children. The authors studied 108 patients with AD and 103 controls including patients with other skin diseases. The AD group consisted of 60 girls and 48 boys. The mean age was 60.3+/-36.1 months. All previously proposed features were evaluated and the difference infrequency was tested with the chi-square test. History of pruritus, rash on typical distribution, chronically relapsing course, duration more than 6 months, personal or family history of atopy, age of onset before 2 years, recurrent conjunctivitis, itch when sweating, intolerance to rough textile, food and milk intolerance, history of dry skin, seasonal variation, visible dermatitis, dermatitis of a typical distribution, xerosis, ichthyosis vulgaris, foot dermatitis, Dennie-Morgan infraorbital fold, orbital darkening, periorbital dermatitis, pityriasis alba, peri-auricular dermatitis, anterior neck fold, truncal dermatitis, perifollicular accentuation, white dermographism and diffuse scaling of scalp were all significantly more frequent in AD (p < 0.05). A minimum set of diagnostic criteria for AD was derived by using multiple stepwise logistic regression technique. It consisted of history of itchy rash, history of flexural dermatitis, chronicity more than 6 months, and visible xerosis, periorbital dermatitis and perifollicular accentuation.
The identification of one or several hypochromic patches (HP) on the skin is a key stage in the diagnosis of leprosy on dark skin. However, HP are often caused by other disorder than leprosy. A study to determine the prevalence and causes of HP among children was carried out in a rural area of Mali in November 2001. All children under 15 years of age in two villages in an endemic area were screened by two dermatologists. Among the 1729 children seen, HP were identified in 71 patients, with a prevalence of 4.1%. The most common cause of HP was tinea versicolor, which was present in 39.4% of children with HP, followed by pityriasis alba in 31%, naevus achromicus in 24% and vitiligo in 5.6%. No case of leprosy was detected. Our study raises several points with practical consequences for the detection of leprosy cases: the high prevalence of non-leprous HP compared to leprosy, the reliability of the clinical diagnosis of leprosy, and the role of general health care workers in the detection of leprosy cases. Helping those who should be involved in that detection in distinguishing true cases from other hypochromic disorders appears to be a priority.
A 21-year-old patient with a history of drug addiction presented with generalized, centrally-ulcerated papules and haemorrhagic crusts. Initially, differential diagnostic considerations included pityriasis lichenoides et varioliformis acuta and syphilis. Biopsy and serological testing confirmed the latter diagnosis. Syphilis maligna is a rare form of secondary syphilis; symptoms include a papulonecrotic exanthem and general malaise with fevers and wasting. In the past the disease was described in connection with tuberculosis; today it is most often seen in association with HIV.
Cutaneous reactions to imatinib are common and occur in 9.5% to 69% of patients depending on the series reported. Maculopapular eruptions, erythematous eruptions, edema, and periorbital edema are the most common adverse events observed. Imatinib can also induce severe skin eruptions and generalized skin eruptions. Toxic epidermal necrolysis and Stevens Johnson syndrome has been linked to the use of imatinib. Imatinib has caused acute generalized exanthematous pustulosis. Purpuric vasculitis and mycosis fungoides-like reactions has occurred after imatinib use. Rarer side effects include: hypopigmentation, lichenoid reactions, pityriasiform eruptions, pityriasis rosea, psoriasis, reactivation or induction of porphyria cutanea tarda, neutrophilic eccrine hidradenitis, Sweet's syndrome, erythema nodosum, EBV-positive cutaneous B-cell lymphoproliferative disease, possible induction of squamous cell, hyaline cell syringomas, follicular mucinosis, pseudolymphoma-type drug eruptions, and malpighian epitheliomas. Most cutaneous eruptions caused by imatinib do not necessitate discontinuance of imatinib and are usually self limited, despite continued treatment. Administration of oral or topical corticosteroids can ameliorate some of imatinib's cutaneous side effects.
IgE-binding components in crude extracts of Pityrosporum orbiculare were separated by sodium dodecylsulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and transferred to Immobilon membrane. The components were detected by P. orbiculare radioallergosorbent (RAST) positive sera (class 2-4) from 37 patients with atopic dermatitis and visualized by enzyme-labelled anti-human IgE antibodies in chromogenic substrate. Numerous IgE-binding compounds were demonstrated in the molecular weight (MW) range of 14-94 kD. Eight of them were characterized to molecular size, frequency of reacting sera and intensity of bands. Six of the defined components were found to be major allergens reacting with more than 50% of the sera. They had MWs 86, 76, 67, 28, 17 and 13 kD. Thirty-six of the 37 patients had elevated total serum IgE. Two other patient categories were studied; 11 patients with lymphatic filariasis (high total serum IgE, greater than 1,300 kU/l) and 15 pityriasis versicolor patients (normal total serum IgE, less than 122 kU/l). The P. orbiculare RAST values for these sera showed good accordance with the reactivity in immunoblotting experiments.
This report describes the case of a young woman from Mayotte (Comoros Islands) who presented a combination of three cutaneous diseases, i.e. pityriasis versicolor, scabies, and multibacillary leprosy. Symptoms of leprosy were concealed by those of the other two diseases. After multidrug therapy for leprosy, the patient developed erythema nodosum leprosum that was successfully treated using pentoxifylline. Combination of cutaneous diseases can alter usual presentations and lead to misdiagnosis. It is important to take into account possible disease combination to establish proper diagnosis and prescribe effective treatment.
Demodex mites are common parasites in the hair follicles and in the pilosebaceous glands. Demodex folliculorum and D. brevis have been identified in humans and play a role in three facial conditions: Pityriasis folliculorum, rosacea-like demodicidosis and Demodicidosis gravis. The highly infected sites by this mites are: forehead, area around the orbit, area around the nose, chin and area around the mouth. Infection of the skin by D. folliculorum is more frequent among females and in the elderly people. The presence of mites can be determined by microscopic inspection of secretion from sebum glands and skin surface biopsy. The aim of our study was to report a 25-year-old woman suffering from skin diseases with high D. folliculorum density.
Noninfectious inflammatory skin diseases are often a persistent problem for patients with infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and they present both diagnostic and therapeutic challenges for the dermatologist. Well-defined diseases such as granuloma annulare, reactions to insect bites, and leukocytoclastic vasculitis may be more severe in these individuals and may be refractory to therapy. More poorly defined conditions with psoriasiform and papular morphologies have also been described. A number of skin conditions, including pityriasis rubra pilaris, cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, and erythema elevatum diutinum, have recently been observed in the HIV-infected host. Because the dermatologist plays an important role in diagnosis and management of patients with HIV infection, it is important that he or she be well versed in the clinical manifestations and natural history of these conditions.