Current Issue : April - June Volume : 2017 Issue Number : 2 Articles : 6 Articles
Background. Superficial mycosis is a common fungal infection worldwide, mainly caused by dermatophytes. However, the\nprevalence of species varies geographically. In addition, fungal treatment is best guided according to species isolated. This study was\ncarried out to determine the clinical as well as mycological profile of superficial mycoses in a tertiary care hospital, Nepal. Methods.\nThis was a prospective case-control laboratory based study conducted over a period of six months from January to June 2014 at\nTribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Nepal. A total of 200 specimens were collected from the patients suspected of superficial\nmycoses.The specimens were macroscopically as well as microscopically examined.The growth was observed up to 4weeks. Results.\nOut of total 200 specimens from the patients suspected of superficial mycoses, tinea corporis 50 (25%) was most common clinical\ntypes. KOH mount was positive in 89 (44.5%) and culture was positive in 111 (55.5%). Trichophyton mentagrophytes 44 (39.6%) was\nthe most common isolate. Conclusions. The diagnostic yields of KOH mount and culture were found to be complementary to each\nother.Thus both the methods added with clinical findings are equally important to establish superficial mycosis....
Background: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic, relapsing and pruritic inflammatory skin disease whose management\nremains unclear to most non-dermatologists. This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP)\nof the medical staff regarding AD in Yaound�©, Cameroon.\nMethods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted from January to April 2014 in 20 health facilities located in\nYaound�©, the capital city of Cameroon. All medical staff who provided their consent were included in the study.\nA score was established for each of the KAP categories, and subsequently grouped into 4 classes considering a\nscore <50, 50-<65, 65-<85 or â�¥85%, respectively.\nResults: We enrolled 100 medical personnel, 62% of whom were females. Overall, the level of knowledge on AD\nwas moderate (65%). Allergy was the main cause of AD, stated by 64% of participants. Only 43% personnel cited\nthe genetic cause. Asthma was mentioned by 78% as an associated pathology. Regarding attitudes, the majority\n(84%) thought that AD is equally common among Black and Caucasian populations; 42% of participants believed\nthat evolution is favorable when appropriate medical treatment is prescribed. These attitudes were considered\nwrong (64%). Similarly, the general level of practice was inadequate: 50%.\nConclusion: Levels of knowledge, attitudes and practices of the medical staff regarding AD were poor, implying\nthat management of this condition is non optimal in our setting....
Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP) is an unusual spindle cell tumor with a high rate of local recurrence with traditional\nexcision. Fortunately,Mohs micrographic surgery yields excellent cure rates for this neoplasm due to contiguous tumor spread and\nmeticulous tumor mapping and margin analysis.We present the unique case of a patient treated with a modified Mohs technique\nwith an analysis of the final margin with permanent sections, who developed a spindle cell neoplasm in the margins of her second\nstage excision consistent with nodular fasciitis. Distinguishing residual DFSP from a benign reactive process was an essential and\nchallenging component of this patient�s management....
Radiation-induced alopecia after fluoroscopically guided procedures is becoming more common due to an increasing use of\nendovascular procedures. It is characterized by geometric shapes of nonscarring alopecia related to the area of radiation.We report\na case of a 46-year-old man presenting with asymptomatic, sharply demarcated rectangular, nonscarring alopecic patch on the\noccipital scalp following cerebral angiography with fistula embolization under fluoroscopy. His presentations were compatible with\nradiation-induced alopecia. Herein, we also report a novel scalp dermoscopic finding of blue-grey dots in a target pattern around\nyellow dots and follicles, which we detected in the lesion of radiation-induced alopecia....
Background: BCG vaccine as an antigen has proved its effectiveness as an immunotherapy\nfor viral warts. Tuberculin is an antigenic extract of M. tuberculosis capable\nof eliciting an immunological skin reaction. Objective: To assess the efficacy of tuberculin\nintralesional injection in the treatment of viral warts. Patients and Methods:\nThis single ,blind, placebo controlled study was conducted at the Department\nof Dermatology, Baghdad Teaching Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq from March 2010 to July\n2011.Forty-one patients with different types of viral warts were enrolled in this study;\ntuberculin test was done to patients prior to instillation of intralesional treatment.\nThen the patients treated by intralesional tuberculin in each lesion located on the\nright side of the body, and intralesional distilled water in each lesion located on the\nleft side of to a maximum of 3 injections, at 2 weeks interval or until full resolution of\nthese lesions. Patients were evaluated every 2 weeks to assess the regression of their\nlesions and to record any local and systemic adverse effects. The response to treatment\nwas evaluated by decrease in size and reduction in number of warts. Scoring of\nresponse to treatment was as follow: 1) Responders: including patients who showed\ncomplete cure or those with good response (>50% reduction). 2) Non responders:\nincluding patients who showed minimal response (<50% reduction), or those with\nno improvement (stable disease and disease progression). The follow up period\nlasted up to 2 months after the last dose. Results: Thirty out of 41 patients had completed\nthe study, of them 14 (46.66%) patients showed response of their lesions on\nthe right side of the body that were treated with tuberculin; 15 patients showed no\nresponse, 1 patient showed minimal response, 7 patients showed good response and\n7 patients showed complete cure (23.33%). Regarding the lesions treated with intra-lesional distilled water, 25 patients showed no response, 3 patients showed minimal\nresponse, 2(6.66) patients showed good response and no patient showed complete\ncure of their warts. Of the 14 responder patients to intralesional tuberculin, 10 patients\nwere tuberculin tested positive, and 4 patients were tested negative, and of the\n16 non responder patients to intralesional tuberculin, 3 patients were tuberculin\ntested positive, and 13 patients were tuberculin tested negative which was statistically\nsignificant difference. No side effects reported from tuberculin therapy apart from\nmild pain at site of injection. Conclusion: Intralesional injection of tuberculin is an\neffective therapy for viral warts when compared with control, possibly through its\nlocal immunological action and had no systemic immunological response. Patients\nwith previous BCG vaccine showed better response to tuberculin injection....
Vitamin D (VD) is a secosteroid hormone that is mainly synthesized in the skin upon exposure to UVB radiation. VD is\nwidely known for its role in calcium metabolism; however, multiple endocrine, paracrine and autocrine functions of VD\nhave been described, including a prominent role on carcinogenesis. In recent years, multiple associations between VD\ndeficiency and different types of cancer have been described, supported by evidence of anti-proliferative, anti-angiogenic,\npro-apoptotic, cell-differentiating and anti-invasive effects of this hormone. An immunomodulatory role of VD associated to\ncancer microenvironment has also been suggested. Regarding skin cancer, it has been shown that VD inhibits tumor\ndevelopment in basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and melanoma in vitro. Some studies have suggested that\nlower VD levels may be a risk factor for skin cancer, while others have shown the opposite; there is also preliminary\nevidence on the role of VD supplementation for the prevention of melanoma in vivo. In this review, we explore the\nmechanisms of VD effects on carcinogenesis and the available scientific evidence of the interplay between VD and the\ngenesis of both non-melanoma and melanoma skin cancer....
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