Search

To the Editor.— Although the cause of psoriasis remains obscure, some factors are known to be able to trigger or aggravate the disease. Agents that can induce a generalized form of psoriasis include drugs, sunlight, and more rarely metabolic disorders such as hypocalcemia. 1 Adult-onset idiopathic hypoparathyroidism is an uncommon disease that appears with hypocalcemia, 2 and whose association with the development of a generalized form of psoriasis has been only rarely reported. 1 We present a patient who developed a generalized pustular psoriasis associated with severe hypocalcemia secondary to idiopathic hypoparathyroidism. Report of a Case.— 71-year-old man was admitted to the Department of Dermatology in July 1989 with a 15-day history of generalized cutaneous eruption, elevated temperature (39°C), and general malaise. His antecedents included vulgaris psoriasis on the elbows and the lumbar region, which had been left untreated for the last 25 years, bilateral fachectomy (extirpation of crystalline lens

There have been several reports of bullous pyoderma gangrenosum occurring in association with acute myeloid leukemia.1-4 We report on a patient who had two episodes of bullous pyoderma gangrenosum; the first episode occurred several months before evidence of leukemia appeared. A skin biopsy specimen obtained early in the second episode showed unique changes. Report of a Case A 33-year-old woman was admitted in October of 1975 with anemia, general malaise, and pyrexia. Her temperature was 40 °C, but examination results were unremarkable. Shortly after admission, tender fluctuant nodules, with superficial pustule formation, developed on her left hip and left upper arm. During the next five to seven days these became large necrotic bullous lesions, which rapidly ulcerated. Bullous pyoderma gangrenosum, associated with acute leukemia, was suspected, but a bone marrow specimen showed no definite evidence of leukemia. Abnormal investigation results were as follows: hemoglobin level, 8.6 g/dl; and WBC

In 1956 we observed the first of a series of several physicians and nurses with primary herpes simplex infection of the fingers. The portals of entry were sites of trivial trauma. Our purpose is to review this unusual type of primary herpes simplex infection and to emphasize its importance as an occupational hazard in persons caring for patients. A similar, much larger experience has been reported from St. George's Hospital, London, and offers points of comparison and contrast.1 Patients Patient 1, a 28-year-old surgical resident, accidentally cut his index finger with a clean surgical instrument on Aug. 2, 1956. Tetracycline was administered and healing slowly occurred. On the seventh day he noticed throbbing pain and localized swelling, accompanied by a tender axillary lymph node, at the site. On the 10th day because of general malaise with fever he was admitted to the hospital. Past history was negative for herpes

The response of cutaneous virus infections to aureomycin therapy has been previously reported. 1 The favorable clinical response to topically applied aureomycin in the following case lends further support to accounts of the effectiveness of the drug in a condition for which there has been no specific therapy in the past. B. M. S., a 30 year old white housewife, acquired symptoms of a common cold, including general malaise and coryza. Within 24 hours a "fever blister" made its appearance on her upper lip beneath the nose. In the past she had experienced an occasional fever blister on the lip during the course of a cold, but in no respect had the lesion been chronic or recurrent. When seen three days after the onset of her fever blister, she had an extensive, severe, erythematous grouped vesicular and papular eruption involving her entire face. On the left side the preauricular lymph