Clinical and experimental dermatology
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Clin. Exp. Dermatol. · Jul 2008
Case ReportsAspergillus fumigatus Majocchi's granuloma in a patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.
Majocchi's granuloma, also known as nodular granulomatous perifolliculitis, is an uncommon fungal infection of the skin and subcutaneous tissue. It can occur in healthy and immunocompromised patients. The most common cause of Majocchi's granuloma is Trichophyton rubrum. We report a case of a Majocchi's granuloma caused by Aspergillus fumigatus in a patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.
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Clin. Exp. Dermatol. · Jul 2008
Case ReportsSclerodermatous changes of face, neck and scalp associated with familial porphyria cutanea tarda.
Porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT), the most common of the porphyrias, is a mainly acquired disease of the liver, which manifests with bullous skin lesions. However, up to 20% of patients with PCT, usually those with chronic untreated disease, are reported to develop some sclerodermatous changes that may affect both light-exposed and nonexposed areas and that can be histologically indistinguishable from true scleroderma. ⋯ We report a case of familial PCT with associated severe sclerodermatous changes causing scarring alopecia, cicatricial ectropion and skin thickening over the upper trunk. The scleroderma improved slightly over a 4-year follow-up period after treatment to normalize porphyrin excretion and prevent relapse.
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Proteus syndrome is a rare, sporadic overgrowth disorder for which the underlying genetic defect remains unknown. Although the clinical course is well-described there is no systematic histopathological description of the lesional pathology. ⋯ The histopathological features of lesions resected from children with Proteus syndrome predominantly include hamartomatous mixed connective tissue lesions, benign neoplasms such as lipomata, and lymphatic-rich vascular malformations.
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Clin. Exp. Dermatol. · Mar 2008
Effects of asiaticoside on the expression of Smad protein by normal skin fibroblasts and hypertrophic scar fibroblasts.
The precise mechanism of asiaticoside in molecular and gene expression levels of Smad protein and mRNA still remains unknown. We hypothesised that asiaticoside might inhibit the formation of hypertrophic scarring by affecting the expression of Smad protein and interfering with the Smad signalling pathway. ⋯ Asiaticoside inhibits scarring probably by enhancing the expression of inhibitory Smad7, and is a potential treatment for scarring.
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Clin. Exp. Dermatol. · Mar 2008
Case ReportsSubcutaneous sarcoidosis localised to sites of previous desensitizing injections.
Subcutaneous sarcoidosis is a specific cutaneous lesion of systemic sarcoidosis that is rarely reported. Clinically, it is characterized by multiple, asymptomatic subcutaneous nodules mainly located on the forearms. ⋯ Nodular lesions may also develop at the site of injection; these have been attributed to the aluminium hydroxide contained by many vaccines. We report a 49-year old woman with a history of two outbreaks of acute sarcoidosis (Löfgren syndrome) in 1994 and 1999, who developed lesions of subcutaneous sarcoidosis in the upper part of both arms, at the sites of desensitization injections for extrinsic asthma immunotherapy.