Takayuki Sawai

PEMPHIGUS VEGETANS WITH OESOPHAGEAL INVOLVEMENT : SUCCESSFUL TREATMENT WITH MINOCYCLINE AND NICOTINAMIDE

although probably rare, the coexistence of malignancy and EN should be borne in mind, especially when this dermatosis develops inexplicably in an elderly subject. In such cases, additional investigative procedures should be undertaken.^ Finally, as EN may also be associated with menstruation^ and pregnancy/ this raises the question of whether EN associated with irradiated or untreated uterine malignancy is due to shedding of an antigen by the neoplasm, or might it be due to release of the same hypothetical factor which gives rise to EN in association with menstruation or pregnancy? This problem deserves further investigation.

Elevated cyclic adenosine monophosphate phosphodiesterase activity in peripheral blood mononuclear leucocytes from children with atopic dermatitis

We examined peripheral blood mononuclear leucocyte cyclic adenosine monophosphate phosphodiesterase (cAMP‐PDE) activity in 80 children (aged 2‐12 years) with atopic dermatitis. The enzyme activity (35.1 ± 18.6U) in children with atopic dermatitis was significantly higher than that (19.1 ± 12.6U) in age‐matched non‐atopic controls. There was no significant difference in the cAMP‐PDE activity between children with mild atopic dermatitis and children with severe atopic dermatitis. These findings support the view that elevation of peripheral mononuclear leucocyte cAMP‐PDE actvity in patients with atopic dermatitis is a gene‐associated abnormality.

Successful treatment of disseminated cutaneous cytomegalic inclusion disease associated with Hodgkin's disease

A case of disseminated cutaneous cytomegalic inclusion disease associated with Hodgkins disease is described. The patient had a diffuse eruption of pruritic, erosive erythematous nodules. Histologically, many inclusion bodies were observed in perivascular areas of the skin lesions. Immunohistologically, the inclusion bodies positively stained with both anticytomegalovirus antibody and anti-factor VIII-related antibody. On electron microscopy many virus particles and dense bodies were found in the area where inclusion bodies were observed. Treatment with high-dose intravenous acyclovir and a large amount of immunoglobulin resulted in prompt healing of the skin lesions. Subsequently, the patients Hodgkins disease was well controlled on chemotherapy. The patient steadily improved without relapse of skin lesions 1 year after antiviral therapy was administered.