Iranian Journal Of Dermatology
Volume:11 Issue: 3, 2009

Lichen planus is a common dermatological condition. Many treatment options have been discussed in literature, each with its own risk profile. Betamethasone pulse therapy is one of the effective therapies mentioned.The objective of this study was to find out whether oral betamethasone mini pulse therapy is effective in lichen planus.

A total of 40 patients were enrolled in the study. Twenty patients received 5mg of oral betamethasone daily for two consecutive days in a week for 6 weeks along with loratadine and the other twenty patients received a loratadine tablet daily for the same period.

The flattening of the existing lesions, appearance of the new lesions and persistence of itching were considered as the parameters of clinical evaluation. It was clearly observable that the number of lichen planus lesions were drastically decreasing in group A and only slightly increasing in group B during the follow-ups.

Betamethasone oral mini-pulse therapy was found to be more effective than loratadine in the treatment of lichen planus

Topical immunotherapy with diphencyprone (DPCP) for the treatment of severe alopecia areata has been used since 1983 and is felt to be the treatment of choice for chronic extensive alopecia areata. Highly variable results have been reported. The purposes of this study were to evaluate the efficacy of DPCP in the treatment of chronic, extensive alopecia areata and to assess the long-term overall benefit of treatment. In a retrospective study, 54 patients with chronic extensive alopecia areata who had used DPCP for more than 1.5 years between 2001 and 2005 were studied. Patients'' information and results of treatment after every session were collected from record files. The response to treatment was excellent (76-100% terminal hair re-growth) in 40.7%, good (51-75% terminal hair re-growth) in 14.8%, moderate (26-50% terminal hair re-growth) in 14.8%, and mild (1-25% terminal hair re-growth) in 29.6% of patients. However, 33% of them had a relapse. The response to treatment was excellent and good in 62% of the patients with less than 10 years duration of alopecia areata, but in the group with the duration of more than 10 years, a good and/or excellent response was found in 25% of patients and 75% had a poor and/or moderate response (P=0.017). There was no relationship between response to treatment and sex, onset of disease, nail involvement, atopy, extent of hair loss, and family history of alopecia areata. Topical immunotherapy with DPCP has proved to be an effective treatment with prolonged therapeutic results in Iranian population. Duration of disease less than 10 years is a main predictor for a good response rate.

Few studies have investigated on vitamin D metabolites Serum levels, and calcium homeostasis in humans receiving retinoids, despite a substantial amount of literature concerning retinoid-induced osteoporosis in animals. We prospectively measured vitamin D metabolites serum levels and calcium homeostasis and radiographic bone changes in short course treatment with oral isotretinoin in severe acne. 1,25-dihydroxy vitamin D and 25-hydroxy vitamin D, calcium, phosphate, Parathyroid hormone and axial spine, femoral neck radiographies were measured in 30 nodulocystic acne patients (17 -28 years) before and after twenty weeks of treatment with oral isotretinoin at the recommended dose (0.75 -1 mg/kg/day). vitamin D metabolites, calcium, phosphate, Parathyroid-hormone did not change significantly and hyperostosis and other sclerotic change were not observed in any patients. Short course treatment with oral isotretinoin at the recommended dose did not lead to any significant changes in serum vitamin D metabolites, calcium, phosphate and Parathyroid hormone and has no effects on bone radiography in acne patients.

Bachground: Skin lesions are common in type 2 diabetic patients and its association with microvascular complications been reported. In this study, 1135 type-2 diabetic patients were included and examined by a dermatologist for diabetes mellitus related skin lesions, skin infections and cutaneous complications of the treatment. Smear, culture and biopsy of the lesions were done for definite diagnosis. Weight, height, blood pressure were also done. FBS and HbA1C were measured for all patients The mean age of the study population was 54±11 years; 619 were (55%) female and 516 were (45%) male. Mean duration of the disease was 9±7 years and HbA1c was 7.8±1.6. The prevalence of skin lesions was 64% (95%CI: 61.2-66.8). The most common solitary skin lesion was diabetic dermopathy (32.3%) while the most common condition observed overall was skin infections (41.5%). Acanthosis nigricans with a prevalence of 26.4% was the third most common lesion. Other skin conditions had a prevalence of less than 12%. Skin disorders were apparently more prevalent in male than in female patients. More than sixty percent of patients with type-2 diabetes mellitus have skin lesions.

In many ways, medicine, and specifically dermatology, is practiced in much the same manner today as in centuries ago, but more recently, dermatologists have been facing enormous changes in the way they perform their profession and much of this is a result of a fundamental change in the manner in which information is exchanged through information technology. With the advent of more advanced telecommunications, imaging capabilities, information transfer, and management options, dermatology, as with many medical fields, is facing new opportunities and challenges. Therefore, the need for integration of new events throughout information technology seems to be necessary. This article determines the effects of health information technology (HIT) on mainly two important aspects: quality and efficiency, and indicates that HIT system substantially improves health care quality and efficiency. This article also identifies advanced types of these information systems in dermatology field. There are challenges to HIT’s adoption and unfortunately, in opposite to the developed countries, investing in technologic affairs mostly has been neglected in the developing countries. Therefore, we have suggested some recommendations for the improvement of these information systems.

Granuloma annulare is one of the granulomatous dermatoses, the localized form of which is the most common clinical type, although rare variants such as subcutaneous form have been reported.We present a 22-year-old girl with asymptomatic cutaneous lesions on her fingers from 14 years ago.On physical examination, multiple nodules with rubbery consistency were noted on palmar aspects of fingers of both hands.Histopathologic examination showed granulomas with a palisading pattern and degeneration of collagen bundles. The diagnosis of subcutaneous granuloma annulare was confirmed. Intralesional triamcinolone prescribed for the patient caused slight improvemen

Porokeratosis (PK) is an uncommon disorder of epidermal keratinization characterized by annular plaques with an atrophic center surrounded by a raised, keratotic wall, with unknown aetiology and an unpredictable outcome. It has several clinical forms including porokeratosis of Mibelli, giant porokeratosis, linear porokeratosis, disseminated superficial actinic porokeratosis, palmoplantar porokeratosis and punctate porokeratosis. Genital porokeratosis is a rare and probably underestimated subset of PK that mostly affects middle-aged men. Although there are many clinical variants, coexistence of different variants of porokeratosis in a single patient has been regarded as a rare occurrence. Here we report a rare variant of porokeratosis, genital or ptychotropica porokeratosis, accompanied by superficial actinic porokeratosis in a patient and his family members.

Haemangioendothelioma is a rare tumor that is both clinically and histologically intermediate between angiosarcoma and haemangioma. It is usually a solitary, slow-growing nodule on distal areas or extremities. The onset is frequently before 25 years of age with a male preponderance. Histologically, two components are important: dilated vascular channels and spindle cells elements with some pleomorphism and mitotic configuration. Treatment is wide excision and regional lymph node evaluation. As we reviewed the reported papers, we just found one reported case on genital involvement in a male; therefore, this could be a rare presentation of haemangioendothelioma on the genital area of an old woman.

10-year-old girl presented with a 1-year history of an eruption on her hands. Physical examination revealed soft, bluish slightly tender subcutaneous nodules and swellings in the ulnar site and palmar aspect of five fingers of the right hand and dorsal aspect of three fingers of the left hand without any gross deformity in fingers and long bones (figure 1). History of pathological fractures was negative. X ray of the right hand showed reduction in bone density with lytic lesions in five metacarps and proximal phalanx of the fourth and fifth fingers associated with soft tissue swellings (figure 2). A biopsy specimen was taken from a skin nodule (figure 3).