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Background: Obesity is considered one of the risk factors for dermatophytosis and warrants systemic therapy. Itraconazole is the most commonly used antifungal, but owing to pharmacokinetic challenges, super-bioavailable itraconazole (SITZ) was approved globally, recently. For the management of dermatophytosis in obese patients, there are mixed opinions regarding the dosing of systemic antifungals. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted to compare the efficacy and safety of SITZ-130 mg once daily in glabrous tinea or dermatophytosis in obese and non-obese patients for a total duration of 10 weeks on 87 eligible patients. Efficacy and safety assessments were done at weeks 3 and 6 with follow-up at week 10 for relapse. The primary objective was to assess the proportion of patients achieving complete cure at week 6 with the assessment of safety, clinical, and mycological cure rates as secondary objectives. Results: Out of 87 patients, 80 were considered for analysis. At week 6, 22/35 (63%) and 33/45 (73%) patients in obese and non-obese groups were completely cured (P = 0.47). Similarly, there was no statistically significant difference for mycological and clinical cure in both the groups (P = 0.17 and P = 0.61, respectively). Four patients in the obese group (18% of completely cured), while one patient in the non-obese group (3% of completely cured), relapsed within 4 weeks of completion of treatment (P = 0.14). The therapy was well tolerated by both groups, with only one patient in the non-obese group experiencing pruritus. Conclusion: SITZ-130 mg once daily achieved desired and similar clinical response in obese patients as of non-obese patients suffering from dermatophytosis, and hence, a higher dose may not require in obesity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cutaneous mucormycosis has shown a significant upsurge during the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the rapid progression and high mortality of cutaneous mucormycosis in this context, it is important to identify it early. However, very few studies report detailed clinical descriptions of cutaneous mucormycosis in COVID-19 patients. Objectives: To describe mucocutaneous lesions of COVID-19-associated mucormycosis based on clinical morphology and attempt to correlate them with radiological changes. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted at a tertiary care centre from 1st April to 31st July 2021. Eligibility criteria included hospitalised adult patients of COVID-19-associated mucormycosis with mucocutaneous lesions. Results: All subjects were recently recovering COVID-19 patients diagnosed with cutaneous mucormycosis. One of fifty-three (2%) patients had primary cutaneous mucormycosis, and all of the rest had secondary cutaneous mucormycosis. Secondary cutaneous mucormycosis lesions presented as cutaneous-abscess in 25/52 (48%), nodulo-pustular lesions in 1/52 (2%), necrotic eschar in 1/52 (2%) and ulceronecrotic in 1/52 (2%). Mucosal lesions were of three broad sub-types: ulcero-necrotic in 1/52 (2%), pustular in 2/52 (4%) and plaques in 1/52 (2%). Twenty out of fifty-two patients (38%) presented with simultaneous mucosal and cutaneous lesions belonging to the above categories. Magnetic resonance imaging of the face showed variable features of cutaneous and subcutaneous tissue involvement, viz. peripherally enhancing collection in the abscess group, "dot in circle sign" and heterogeneous contrast enhancement in the nodulo-pustular group; and fat stranding with infiltration of subcutaneous tissue in cases with necrotic eschar and ulcero-necrotic lesions. Limitations: The morphological variety of cutaneous mucormycosis patients in a single-centre study like ours might not be very precise. Thus, there is a need to conduct multi-centric prospective studies with larger sample sizes in the future to substantiate our morphological and radiological findings. Conclusions: COVID-19-associated mucormycosis patients in our study presented with a few specific types of mucocutaneous manifestations, with distinct magnetic resonance imaging findings. If corroborated by larger studies, these observations would be helpful in the early diagnosis of this serious illness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Byline: Abir. Saraswat, Rajetha. DamisettySir,Topical corticosteroid misuse and the effects thereof have been a major challenge to Indian dermatologists in recent years. It has led to a deluge of patients [...]

Chemical leucoderma is an industrial disorder in developed countries and the common causative chemicals are phenols and catechols. Due to stringent controls and preventive measures the incidence has come down. In the recent past various chemicals in consumer products have also been documented to produce depigmentation.In India due to lax quality control measures chemical leucoderma due to consumer items is not uncommon.The various consumer items documented to cause contact depigmentation are sticker bindis,rain shoes,plastic chappals,hair dye/ black henna( kali mehndi), alta, wallets and even mobile plastic covers.

Despite the development of newer patient- friendly agents and regimens, treatment of scalp psoriasis is difficult and relapse are common. The adverse effects and drawbacks of topical corticosteroids and calcipotriol led us to compare the effects of three relatively bland therapeutic agents in a prospective randomized trial in scalp psoriasis. A literature search was also done on the treatment of scalp psoriasis. Forty patients with scalp psoriasis were randomized to receive any of the following topical therapies under overnight occlusion:5% coal tar solution mixed 1:1 in coconut oil; a preparation containing 10% urea, 10% lactic acid, 10% propylene glycol and 10% liquid paraffin in a washable cream base and only coconut oil. The 3 groups showed significant improvement in 57%, 64.4% and 58.3% patients respectively (p

A topic dermatitis (AD) in children has been shown to be associated with growth impairment in a few recent studies. There however, has been no report published on the growth pattern of children who have ‘pure†AD, i.e., not accompanied by bronchial asthma. The objectives of our study were :I) To examine the growth pattern of children suffering from ‘pure†AD and ii) to ascertain the relationship, if any, of selected disease parameters with growth attainments of children. A total of 108 children (63 males and 45 females), aged 1-5+ years with ‘pure†AD were aross-sectionally examined for selected anthropometric parameters including height, weight, mid- upper arm circumference and biceps and triceps skin fold thickness. Fifty eight (54%) subjects weighed below the 10th centile and 23 (28%) were below the 10th centile for height of the NCHS standards. Boys showed relatively worse growth performance than girls from 1-4 years of age. There was no significant correlation between disease severity of extent and growth attainments. Our findings point to an impaired somatic growth in pre-school children with AD, boys faring worse than the girls, and to no association of growth performance with severity or extent of the disease

Byline: Murlidhar. Rajagopalan, Abir. Saraswat, Kiran. Godse, D. Shankar, Sanjiv. Kandhari, Shrutakirthi. Shenoi, Sushil. Tahiliani, V. Zawar The aim of this study is to formulate the best clinical practice in [...]

Byline: Abir. Saraswat Dermatologists rely very heavily on corticosteroids for treating many common dermatoses. Concerns about their incorrect use are widely expressed both in lay public and specialist discourse. From [...]