Serap Koran Karadogan

Hypocomplementemic urticarial vasculitis: a rare presentation of systemic lupus erythematosus

Background  Urticarial vasculitis is a small‐vessel vasculitis, presenting clinically as persistent urticarial skin lesions and microscopically as leucocytoclastic vasculitis. Hypocomplementemic urticarial vasculitis syndrome (HUVS) is a distinct type of urticarial vasculitis with multiorgan involvement, whose etiology and link with other diseases are still unknown. Some authors have suggested that HUVS can be accompanied by systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and others believe that it is a rare subtype of SLE. Urticarial vasculitis is seen in 7–8% of SLE, while 50% of HUVS patients are diagnosed with SLE.

Lupus erythematosus associated with erythema multiforme: report of two cases and review of the literature

Rowells syndrome (RS) is a rare presentation of lupus erythematosus (LE) with erythema multiforme‐like lesions associated with antinuclear, anti‐La (SS‐B)/anti‐Ro (SS‐A) antibodies and rheumatoid factor (RF) positivity. This syndrome is suggested to be a different variant of cutaneous lupus erythematosus by some authors in literature. Here we present a 64‐year‐old woman with LE and a 51‐year‐old woman with LE and Sjögren syndrome (SS) who had erythema multiforme‐like eruptions and discuss the coexistence of lupus erythematosus and erythema multiforme.

Audiological abnormalities in patients with vitiligo

Background.  Accumulating evidence suggests that vitiligo is a systemic disease affecting the entire pigmentary system.

HLA class I and class II antigens in Turkish patients with chronic ordinary urticaria

Background.  Chronic urticaria is a common disease with an unclear pathogenesis, which may be resistant to therapy. Recent studies have focused primarily on a possible autoimmune basis.

Neurological and neurophysiological effects of oral isotretinoin: a prospective investigation using auditory and visual evoked potentials.

Over the last decade, accumulating evidence has indicated that retinoids may be capable of affecting the development, differentiation and function of nervous tissue. The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether oral isotretinoin can affect brainstem and cortical sensorial activities. We performed neurological and neurophysiological studies (brainstem auditory and visual evoked potentials) in 32 patients with various skin diseases receiving isotretinoin. A significant increase of the third (L(III)) and fifth peak latency (L(V)) in left and right ear (p = 0.03, p = 0.02 for L(III), p = 0.03, p = 0.04 for L(V) respectively), and a significant increase in the latency of wave one and interpeak latency (IPL) I-V in the left ear were found after isotretinoin administration, as compared to the pretreatment (p = 0.0036 and p = 0.02, respectively). No significant differences of other latencies, IPLs and the value of visual evoked potential P-100 implicit time were observed. However, a marked increase in latency P-100 wave was found in 6 patients after therapy. It seems reasonable to suggest that neurophysiological and neurological evaluation of audiological and ocular nerve (or retinal) function may be added to the list of investigations that are performed in patients treated with oral isotretinoin.

Narrowband ultraviolet B (311 nm, TL01) phototherapy in chronic ordinary urticaria

Background  Chronic ordinary urticaria (COU) can severely reduce quality of life and be difficult to control. Ultraviolet (UV) A and UVB phototherapy has been reported to decrease the release of histamine from either mast cells and/or basophils. Previous small studies have suggested that UVB phototherapy is a good alternative treatment for COU.

Narrowband UVB therapy in the treatment of lichen planus.

Background: Recently, UVB lamps with a peak emission around 311 nm have been used successfully for the treatment of many dermatologic diseases known to be treated with psoralen plus UVA (PUVA). Narrowband UVB (NBUVB) radiation causes less erythema and carcinogenicity with lower cumulative doses than PUVA, while the treatment response remains high. Lichen planus (LP) is a cell‐mediated immune response of unknown origin.

Generalized Sweet syndrome lesions associated with Behçet disease: a true association or simply co-morbidity?

Sweet syndrome or acute febrile neutrophilic dermatosis is a condition characterized by painful erythematous papules, nodules, and plaques, which demonstrate mature neutrophilic infiltration of the upper dermis histopathologically, and is usually associated with systemic symptoms such as fever and neutrophilia. Generalized Sweet syndrome lesions are usually noted in association with malignancies. Sweet syndrome lesions are rarely seen in patients with Behçet disease and, if present, are usually fewer in number.In this report, we present two female patients who developed generalized Sweet syndrome lesions during follow-up after the diagnosis of Behçet disease. The clinical and histopathologic findings in our patients together with the data in the literature suggest that generalized Sweet syndrome lesions in a patient with clinically inactive Behçet disease should remind the clinician that a strict differential diagnosis needs to be made between Sweet syndrome associated with Behçet disease and the rare cutaneous manifestation of Behçet disease that resembles the lesions of Sweet syndrome.

Acitretin-induced subungual hemorrhage.

A 20‐year‐old woman with a 2‐year history of histologically confirmed palmoplantar keratoderma due to psoriasis, resistant to several topical agents, was admitted to the Department of Dermatology, Uludag University, Bursa, Turkey. Therapy with oral acitretin (0.5 mg/kg/day, 35 mg/day) was initiated. A month after starting acitretin treatment, she noted slight reddening of the second left fingernail. Clinical examination revealed red–brown discoloration of the second fingernail associated with subungual hemorrhage involving the proximal nail bed (lunula region) ( Fig. 1 ). The nail change was asymptomatic. The patient complained only of discoloration underneath the nail plate. No abnormalities were detected on the skin, mucous membranes, or toenails/other fingernails. The patient denied exposure to microtrauma or any other drugs. The erythrocyte sedimentation rate, full blood cell count, electrolytes, renal and hepatic tests, and serum lipids were normal. Coagulation tests, including blood clotting time, international normalized ratio, activated partial thromboplastin time, thrombin time, platelet number, and function tests, were within normal levels.

Narrowband UVB phototherapy for small plaque parapsoriasis.

Background  Narrowband UVB (NB‐UVB) phototherapy has been shown to be effective for the treatment of various dermatoses.