V. K. Jain

Patch Testing in Discoid Eczema

Fifty patients of both sexes with clinically suspected discoid eczema were patch tested with the Indian Standard Patch Test Battery approved by the Contact and Occupational Dermatosis Forum of India (CODFI). Most of these patients were young adults between 20 and 39 years old, with a mean age of 36 years. The mean duration of symptoms was 2 1/2 years. The occupational profiles of the patients included farmers (24%), housewives (18%), students (14%), housewives engaged in farming (12%), shopkeepers (10%), and laborers (8%). The miscellaneous group, including technicians, drivers, cable operators, office workers, and computer operators, accounted for the remaining 14%. The common clinical patterns of presentation of discoid eczema included hands and feet (44%), hands and forearms (30%), legs and feet (12%) and trunk and limbs (12%). Patch test analysis of these patients revealed that, out of the 50 subjects tested, 28 (56%) reacted to one or more allergens. Potassium dichromate was the most common allergen (20%), followed by nickel (16%), cobalt chloride, and fragrance (12% each) in decreasing order of frequency. Hence, it may be concluded that patch testing should be considered for all patients with severe or persistent discoid eczema because allergic contact dermatitis may be relatively common in such patients and the avoidance of offending allergens may be of substantial benefit to the patients.

Animals eponyms in dermatology

The world of Dermatology is flooded with inflexions among clinical conditions and signs and syndromes; making it interesting, but a tougher subject to remember. Signs and syndromes have always fascinated residents, but simultaneously burdened their minds, as these attractive names are difficult to remember. This work was undertaken to review dermatological conditions and signs based on commonly encountered daily words and objects like animals, etc. Fifty dermatological conditions were found to be based on animal eponyms. For example, the usage of animal terminology in dermatology like leonine facies is present in leprosy, sarcoidosis, mycosis fungoides (MF), and airborne contact dermatitis (ABCD).

Ipsilateral galactorrhea following zoster of the T4 dermatome.

Indian Journal of Dermatology, Venereology, and Leprology | November-December 2014 | Vol 80 | Issue 6 540 The significance of this pathogen in community acquired skin and soft tissue infections has been highlighted in previous studies as well.[2,4,5] The present study showed that primary pyoderma is more common (42/59) compared to secondary pyoderma (17/59). A recent prospective multi‐centric study has shown that skin and skin structure infections among adult patients without any health‐care contact are commonly caused by community‐acquired MRSA.[5] Basal nasal carriage was observed in 8% of patients and this could be one of the risk factors for pyoderma. All the isolates were susceptible to vancomycin and linezolid. Inducible clindamycin resistance was detected in 16.9% of the clinical isolates and 33.3% of the nasal isolates by the D‐test. Community‐acquired MRSA strains exhibiting inducible clindamycin resistance appear susceptible to clindamycin on routine antibiotic susceptibility testing by the Kirby‐Bauer disk diffusion method. If clindamycin is used for treatment in these cases, it will result in treatment failure. Therefore, it is important to perform the D‐test to detect inducible clindamycin resistance in all isolates of MRSA that appear susceptible to clindamycin in the routine test. The virulence factors of community‐acquired MRSA influence the pathogenesis of infections caused by this organism and further studies on their molecular properties are warranted.

Nevus comedonicus on scalp: An unusual presentation

Nevus comedonicus (NC) is a rare developmental anomaly of follicular infundibulum plugged with keratinous material that resembles comedo-like lesions. Frequently affected sites are face, neck, trunk, and upper arm. Few cases have been described on palms, soles, scalp, and genitalia. We hereby report a rare case of NC on scalp in a 14-year-old boy.