J. Stratigos

Bullous pemphigoid, cicatricial pemphigoid, and pemphigus vulgaris: A comparative clinical survey of 278 cases

The clinical features of bullous pemphigoid (BP), cicatricial pemphigoid (CP), and pemphigus vulgaris (PV), based upon examination of 278 patients during the years 1972 through 1981, are recorded. Data in relation to age, sex, site of onset, duration of the disease at the site of onset, distribution of oral, skin, and extracutaneous lesions, and time of final diagnosis are analyzed for each disease separately, and a detailed discussion in comparison with previous reports follows. Comparative evaluation of all the clinical data permitted identification of similarities and differences in the clinical manifestations within this disease group and provided an opportunity to increase our knowledge and understanding of the overall clinical behavior of these bullous diseases. Greater awareness of these entities, which very often involve the oral mucosa, in correlation with careful clinical observation is of particular importance and leads to early diagnosis and improved treatment.

A double‐blind trial of treatment of seborrhoeic dermatitis with 2% ketoconazole cream compared with 1% hydrocortisone cream

Fifty patients with seborrhoeic dermatitis were treated with 2% ketoconazole cream (n=24) or with 1% hydrocortisone cream (n=26) for 4 weeks in a double‐blind comparative study. These twice daily applications resulted in 87.2% symptomatic improvement for hydrocortisone vs. 81.6% for ketoconazole. The number of P. ovale yeasts was significantly reduced after the application of ketoconazole compared with hydrocortisone. The incidence of side‐effects was low in both groups.

Classic Kaposi's sarcoma in Greece : A clinico-epidemiological profile

Background Classic Kaposis sarcoma (CKS) is not uncommon in Greece with a reported incidence of 0.20 per 100,000 per year.

Vitiligo as a Reaction to Topical Treatment with Diphencyprone

During the topical treatment of 45 patients, who had extensive forms of alopecia areata, with the allergen diphencyprone, 3 of them (6.7%) developed vitiligo. Two were females and 1 male aged 53, 19 and 28 years respectively. None of these patients had a personal or family history of vitiligo. Vitiligo appeared 3-5 months after the onset of treatment and was localized only to the areas of topical application in the younger woman and the man. In the older woman, vitiligo extended to several areas apart from those where the medicament was applied. After the end of diphencyprone treatment, vitiligo had a spontaneous significant improvement only in the man. Mitochondrial autoantibodies were found in the older woman only. To our knowledge, vitiligo due to diphencyprone has not been previously reported.

The epidemiologic profile of Kaposi's sarcoma in Greece prior to and during the AIDS era

To determine the incidence rates and to describe the epidemiological patterns of non‐AIDS Kaposis sarcoma in the central southern area of Greece during the period 1974–1989, all 473 incidence cases reported to Pathology Departments were studied. The mean age (SD) was 67.6 (12.9) years among 297 males and 66.1 (15.9) years among 176 females. The mean age‐standardized (Greek population 1981) incidence rate was 0.47 cases per 100,000 total population per year (males 0.62, females 0.32). The standardized incidence rates increased over time for males, with the incidence‐rate ratios relative to the earliest period, 1974–1978, being 1.44 (95% CI, 1.02–2.04) for the 1979–1983 interval and 2.12 (95% CI, 1.55–2.90) for the 1984–1989 interval. However, the rates for females did not show a similar pattern. The age‐adjusted male:female ratio was 1.6 in 1974–1983 and 2.6 in 1984–1989. Poisson‐regression modelling suggested a shift in the age‐specific incidence rate in men, towards younger ages during the last period, 1984–1989.Int. J. Cancer 70:538–541.

Malignant Syphilis in HIV-Infected Patients

ABSTRACT: Two cases of atypical syphilis in HIV‐infected patients assuming characteristics of malignant syphilis are described with special emphasis on the peculiarities of histologic and immunohistochemical findings.

A five year retrospective study on pemphigus and pemphigoid.

In a five year period 73 cases of pemphigus vulgaris (PV) and 94 of bullous pemphigoid (BP) were studied to investigate important parameters for these diseases. From the results it was found that the incidence of PV was higher in women whereas that of BP was almost equal in both sexes. The incidence of PV was highest in the sixth decade but was highest in the eighth decade for BP.

Mycosis fungoides: Evaluation of immunohistochemical criteria for the early diagnosis of the disease and differentiation between stages

Lesional skin specimens from twenty-eight patients with mycosis fungoides were studied by evaluating immunohistochemical criteria, primarily with monoclonal antibodies. It was demonstrated that significant differences exist between the control and the premycotic-stage group in regard to the monoclonal antibodies BE1, BE2, and OKT9. The detection of specific antigenic determinants on the surface of cell populations early in the course of the disease seems to be of considerable value for the early diagnosis of the disease. Statistically significant differences were found between the premycotic stage and the plaque stage in regard to T lymphocytes, macrophages, OKT6+, OKT4+, OKT8+, and BE2+ cells in the dermal infiltrate. Significant differences were also shown between the plaque and tumorous groups, concerning macrophages, T cells, and OKT9+ cells in the dermis, as well as epidermal dendritic cells. Differences between stages may supplement histologic data for the follow-up of the disease with or without treatment.

Thin-layer chromatography of phospholipid components of normal and psoriatic epidermis.

The phospholipid pattern of human epidermis from 23 psoriatic patients and from 14 healthy in dividuals has been determined using lipid thin‐layer chromatography. An increased amount of total phospholipids and statistically significant differences in some phospholipid components were found in psoriatic patients as compared to healthy controls. These abnormalities may be related to the altered architecture of the plasma membranes and their surface coats observed in psoriatic keratinocytes.

Hepatitis E virus infection in individuals at high risk of transmission of non-A, non-B hepatitis and sexually transmitted diseases.

The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection among individuals at high risk of transmission of non-A, non-B hepatitis or sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and to evaluate whether they have an increased risk of exposure to HEV. Serum samples from 125 thalassemia patients, 300 intravenous drug users, 420 hemodialysis patients, 263 individuals with STDs, 47 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected homosexual men, and 316 healthy volunteers were tested for immunoglobulin G (IgG) and M (IgM) antibodies to HEV (anti-HEV) by enzyme immunoassays (EIAs) following a predetermined algorithm (Abbott Labs). Anti-HEV IgG was confirmed in 3/125 (2.4%) thalassemia patients, 5/300 (1.7%) intravenous drug users, 27/420 (6.4%) hemodialysis patients, 4/263 (1.5%) STD patients, 1/47 (2.1%) homosexual men, and 7/316 (2.2%) of the reference group. No patient was found positive for anti-HEV IgM. The higher prevalence which was observed in hemodialysis group was due to the confounding effect of age, as multivariate analysis showed. The anti-HEV prevalence increased significantly with age (p = 10(-4)). No significant association was found between anti-HEV, anti-HCV, and anti-HBc. In conclusion, individuals at high risk of non-A, non-B hepatitis and STDs have no increased risk of exposure to HEV and the higher prevalence of anti-HEV IgG among older subjects may be due to an epidemic form of HEV infection which occurred some decades ago, when the sanitary conditions in our country were poor.