Kumiko Mizutari

Immediate Allergy to Rubber Gloves: A Questionnaire Study of Hospital Personnel

We conducted a questionnaire study of immediate allergy to natural rubber gloves among 2,408 medical workers who had used rubber gloves at Kumamoto University Hospital and allied hospitals. The response rate was 64.5% (1,321 workers). Among them, 8.5% (7.0–10.0% at 95% confidence limit) replied that they had experienced immediate allergy to rubber gloves. There were significant correlations among the frequency of rubber glove use, a history of atopic dermatitis or contact dermatitis, and the presence of skin lesions due to allergic reactions to rubber gloves. In 27 workers, skin lesions were associated with general symptoms. Of 59 workers who experienced immediate allergy and were tested for latex‐specific IgE, 4 persons were positive. We conclude that the frequency of contact allergy to natural rubber products is substantially prevalent among Japanese hospital personnel and that education and awareness of this allergy are important.

Clinical Phenotype of Bart's Syndrome Seen in a Family with Dominant Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa

Background: Barts syndrome is one type of dominant dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (EB). It is known that, in some familial cases of dominant dystrophic EB, the symptoms differ depending on the individual. We observed the way Barts syndrome affected four generations in the same family. The proband was a newborn boy who showed congenital localized absence of skin (CLAS) and bullae on the anterior aspects of both legs. Histologically, the bullae were located subepidermally. The CLAS and bullae disappeared within 4 months after birth, leaving scars. His father retained scarring and scaling from the knees down along the anterior aspect of the legs, and the nails of the toes were either lacking or deformed. His paternal grandmother and great‐grandmother also presented deformed nails of the toes, although they had not had CLAS or bullae on the legs at birth. The individuals in this family thus showed some heterogeneity depending on the sex: blistering and CLAS were seen on the legs soon after birth in the male family members, but the female members did not share this pattern of symptoms, suggesting that the expression of symptoms may differ depending on the sex of the affected individual.

Case report of metastatic melanoma to the palatine tonsil.

Metastasis to the oral cavity from cutaneous melanoma is rare. Fewer than 30 cases of metastatic melanoma to the palatine tonsil have been reported in the literature, and only one of them was from Japan. Metastasis to the tonsil, without afferent lymphatics, suggests hematogenous dissemination and a poor prognosis.We present a case of metastatic melanoma restricted to the palatine tonsil. However, in this case, further metastasis has not been recognized in the one and a half years since the tonsillectomy of the metastasic tonsil. We discuss the favorable prognosis from the view point of the antigenic profile of the malenoma cells. [Skin Cancer (Japan) 2000; 15: 57-60]