Iranian Journal of Dermatology
Year:2002 | Volume:5 | Issue:3|Papers Count:10

Background: A high percentage of the patients referred to dermatologic clinics are either suffer from self inflicted disorders or from misinterpretation about their own health and organ integrity and or may suffer from different skin sensations including itching, pain, and burning; all of which may develop as a result of their underlying Psychopathologies. Objective: Identification of underlying psychopathologies disorders. of psychocutaneous Patients patients & Methods: 109 dermatologic who clinically diagnosed as psycho cutaneous disorders referred to psychiatric clinic for identification of their mood, personality and thought disorders. The impression of psycho cutaneous disorder was made according to clinical interview and physical examinations in dermatology office. A semi structured interview based on DSM-IV criteria performed on all patients to evaluate their mood, personality and thought. They also filled the Beck"s and Tailor inventories for further evaluation depression and anxiety. of their possible Results: 107 out of 109 cases studied, suffered from mood disorders including anxiety, depression or a combination of them. Of the remaining two cases one suffered from ! attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and the second one had no psychiatric disorder. 17 out of these 107 cases also suffered from personality disorder and 3 cases had delusional thoughts. Conclusion: All psychocutaneous patients may suffer from one or mpre psychiatric disorders which should be identified and approached properly.

Background: Malignant melanoma is the leading cause of death among skin cancers in western countries. However, the incidence, histologic subtypes, and tumor behaviors are quite different in Asians and western populations. Objective: This study was designed to survey the clinicopathological aspects of malignant melanoma among Khouzestan people. Patients & Methods: In a retrospective study 62 patients (28 women, mean age 53.80± 14.1, and 34 men, mean age 55.9±15.8) were diagnosed as melanoma in Khouzestan province, south-west of Iran during 19902000. The analyzed data included sex, age at diagnosis, location and histologic subtypes. Results: Malignant melanoma was found to be more common in men than women, in the approximate ratio of 5 to 4. From 62 cases of malignant melanoma, 59.67% were cutaneous, 19.35% metastatic in lymph nodes, 11.29% ocular, 4.83% gastrointestinal tract, 3.22% mucosal, and 1.61% inner ear and mastoid. The majority of cases were unclassified malignant melanoma (30.64%), followed by nodular melanoma (27.41 %), matastatic malignant melanoma (24.19%), acral lentiginous melanoma (12.9%), and lentigo maligna melanoma (4.84%), respectively. Conclusion: Althogh malignant melanoma is a rare tumor in Khouzestan, further studied are necessary to analyse present and future trends of melanoma, accurately. Ongoing and new prevention and control strategies may be mandatory to curtail the melanoma outbreak.

Background: The reduction of disability caused by psoriasis is an important issue in dermatology. It is thus important to assess the patients" apprasial of their quality of life. Objective: The aim of the present study was to assess quality of life among patients with psoriasis and to compare these estimates with general population. Patients & Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 55 patients and 55 control subjects were interviewed in Tehran Razi hospital. Quality of life was assessed by SF-36 and PDI questionaires. Results: After score calculation in any domain of SF-36, it was seen that psoriasis patients reported significantly lower scores than the normal control subjects in all scales, except for physical functioning. The greatest difference was found in social functioning. The smallest difference was noticed in vitality. The psoriasis disability index score(PDI) was negatively correlated with all of the eight of the SF-36 health measures in psoriatic patients. Conclusion: These results show that psoriasis patients report poorer quality of life than general population. Therefore, in the case of these patients one must pay attention to the impact of this disease on different life domains.

Background: Acitretin therapy is frequently associated with reversible, dose-related side effects. Recent studies claimed that combining vitamin E with high-dose isotretinoin reduced isotretinoin induced side effects. Objectives: The purpose of this clinical trial study was to determine the effect of a fixed or adjusted dose of vitamin E on the side effects of acitretin. Patients & Methods: Fifty five subjects were randomly assigned to one of the two treatment programs including with acitretin (0.7 lmg/kg/day) together with either vitamin E (13 lU/kg/day) or alone for 3 months. The incidence of side effects of acitretin in two groups were assessed and compared. Results: The study was completed in thirty nine patients. Vitamin E did not decreased the incidence of side effects associated with acitretin. Conclusion: Vitamin E did not significantly ameliorate retinoid side effects when combined with 0.7-1mg/kg of acitretin in treatment of skin disorders.

Background: There are several reports of different cutaneous manifestations in patients with chronic renal failure (CRF) managed by repeated hemodialysis, in the literature. Objectives: This study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of skin manifestations in patients suffering from CRF who are on long-term hemodialysis. Patients & The skin Methods: manifestations of 10S CRF patients who underwent homodialysis in Hemodialysis Center of Ahwaz University of Medical Sciences during the years 2000-2001 were studied by a dermatologist. The duration of dialysis in these patients was between 15 days and 101 months (mean: 17.04 mo.). Results: All of the patients had at least one cutaneous sign or symptom. The most common finding was skin discoloration (77.7%). Other findings were nail changes (75%), xerosis (60.1%), Pruritus(5S.3%), ecchymosis(25.9%) and acquired perforating disorder(l.8%). There was no significant corelation between these findings and sex, age, duration of dialysis and underlying disease. Conclusion: Cutaneous manifestations are common findings among CRF patients who are on long-term hemodialysis and dialysis possibly can affect the frequency of these findings.

Langerhans cell histiocytosis includes a broad spectrum of clinical diseases resulted from prolifration and tissue infiltration of differentiated langerhans cells. This term includes Letterer- siwe disease, Hand Schuller - Christian disease, eosinophilic granulouma and congenital reticulohistiocytosis, that are more common in children than adults. This entity has recently been classified into restricted and extensive forms according to the number of involved organs. We report here in a 41- year-old man who developed Langerhans histiocytosis and presented with seborrheic dermatitis-like skin signs and external ear polypoid lesion without other organ involvement.

Background: Eccrine hidrocystomas are essentially eccrine sweat gland retention cyst located in the dermis that clinically presents as small translucent cystic swelling. Objective: This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of 20% aluminium chloride hexahydrate in absolute alcohol in the treatment of eccrine hydro cystoma. Patients & Methods: In a randomaized, double-blind, placebo controlled clinical trial, 33 patients with multiple eccrine hydrocystoma referred to T ehran Razi hospital during the summer of 2000, were divided in two groups: One group received 20% aluminium chloride hexahydrate in. absolute alcohol and the other one received only absolute alcohol. The patients applied the drugs to dried skin at bed time, and washed the area in the morning. Results: Excellent or good therapeutic effects (more than 50% of improvement) were achieved in 87.5% of patients who applied 20% aluminium chloride hexahydrate but only in 17.6% of patients in control group (P value <0.0001). The mean age in the first goup was 42.6 years and in placebo group 45.4 years. Side effects in the first group included pruritus, burning (37.5%), xerosis and sclay (31.2%) and erythema (25%), in control group the rate of these side effects were 23.5%, 17.6%, 11.7% consequentl y. Conclusion: aluminium chloride 20% hexahydrate solution is an effective and safe topical agent in the treatment of multiple eccrine hydrocystomas.

a-interferon is an antiviral agent used in treatment of chronic hepatitis B. Triggering of the underlying auto immune disease or exacerbation of pre-existing auto Immune disease is documented with a interferon, but there are few reports about occurrence of auto immune disorders such as systemic lupus erythematosus, Vitiligo, hypo and hyperthyroidism after administration of a-interferon in the literature. We report here in two cases of chronic hepatitis B treated with a-interferon, who developed Vitiliginous lesions. These lesions disappeared within 3 to 6 months after discontinuing a-interferon therapy. Until now, the accurrence of vitiligo after administration of a-interferon in chronic hepatitis B has not been reported.