Catherine J M Stephens

Autoimmune progesterone dermatitis responding to Tamoxifen

A case of autoimmune progesterone dermatitis is described. Exacerbation occurred premenstrually and after intramuscular and oral challenge with synthetic progesterone. The condition failed to respond to oestrogen, but there has been a marked improvement with the antioestrogen drug Tamoxifen.

Assessment of erythema in irritant contact dermatitis. Comparison between visual scoring and laser Doppler flowmetry.

Assessment of erythema in experimentally‐induced irritant contact dermatitis has been performed visually and using the laser Doppler flowmeter (LDF). A close correlation was shown between the 2 methods (r= 0.9079, p < 0.001), with the LDF producing menu blood flow values which were able to discriminate between the different visual scores. Of the 100 patch tests evaluated, 3 gave poor correlations between their visual and LDF readings, including 2 dithranol reactions and 1 sodium hydroxide response. Patch tests with no visible erythema had blood flow values similar to those of normal untreated skin. Although the LDH was an easy instrument to operate, it was not considered suitable for use in the routine patch lest clinic, due mainly to the unacceptable length of time required to measure each patch test.

Preliminary Findings on the Patterns of Epidermal Damage Induced by Irritants in Man

The histopathology of the primary irritant reactions induced after 48 h in human volunteers by benzalkonium chloride, sodium lauryl sulphate, croton oil, nonanoic acid, dithranol, and propylene glycol has been investigated. Patterns of epidermal damage were identified for each irritant, reflecting their differing chemical interactions with the cellular components of the skin.

A study of the effects of topical minoxidil in the treatment of androgenic alopecia using phototrichograms

Summaries of papers and compared them with 60 women (mean age 22 years, broadly matched for age, acne severity, predominant site of acne and current use of hormonal therapy) who had achieved > 80% improvement in the same period. The mean hirsutes scores for the therapy resistant and therapy responsive groups were similar (2-0 and 2 1 , respectively). In addition the incidence of significant hirsutes (score > 6) was low and not significantly different between the two groups (6-7 and 3 3 % , respectively). There was no correlation between percentage improvement in acne severity grade and hirsutes score. The two groups were also similar in respect of age at menarche, incidence of male and female pattern androgenic alopecia, keratosis pilaris, acanthosis nigricans and hidradenitis suppuritiva. There was a lower incidence of menstrual irregularity in the therapy resistant group. These results clearly show that clinical features of hyperandrogenism and lack of response to conventional antibiotic therapy are not related. These data also argues against the view that raised circulating androgens are an important factor in the development of resistant acne. Thus, clinical markers of hyperandrogenism cannot help the physician in deciding which female patients will or will not respond to conventional antibiotic therapy.