Occupational contact dermatitis among the traditional 'tie and dye' cottage industry in Western Rajasthan.

BACKGROUND: Dyeing is an age-old process and forms an integral part of textile industries. Tying is a process by which a particular part of cloth is prevented from the process of dyeing. The skin diseases in workers engaged in the 'tie and dye' industry have not been extensively studied. AIMS: To study the prevalence of contact dermatitis among workers engaged in the 'tie and dye' industries in and around Jodhpur (Western Rajasthan). METHODS: One thousand three hundred workers engaged in 'tie and dye' work were evaluated for occupation-related dermatitis. Those with skin lesions were subjected to patch tests using 2% aqueous solution of the dyes and chemicals commonly used by them. These included direct dyes, VAT dyes, sulfur dyes and azo dyes. Fifty workers without skin lesions served as controls. RESULTS: One hundred patients (7.69%) had dermatitis involving the exposed sites, mainly the hands and forearms. Eighty-one patients showed positive reactions to one or more dyes, most commonly Red RC base (azo dye), followed by naphthol. CONCLUSION: Red RC base and naphthol were the commonest allergens in the 'tie and dye' industry.

Florid cutaneous papillomatosis with adenocarcinoma of stomach in a 35 year old male.

Various paraneoplastic dermatoses may be seen in association with underlying visceral, especially gastrointestinal, malignancy. Florid cutaneous papillomatosis describes the sudden appearance of multiple acuminate keratotic papules that morphologically resemble viral warts. It may be seen in association with acanthosis nigricans and/or the sign of Leser Triotalat. We report a 35-year-old male with extensive seborrhoeic keratoses and florid cutaneous papillomatosis. Unusually marked verrucous changes caused disfigurement of the hands and feet. The patient also reported dyspepsia, abdominal distention and weight loss 6 months prior to the development of cutaneous lesions. Gastroscopy revealed a large growth in the stomach. Histopathology of the tumor showed features of adenocarcinoma.

Juvenile hyaline fibromatosis in siblings.

Juvenile hyaline fibromatosis (JHF) is a rare, autosomal recessively inherited disorder. We report two siblings with multiple large tumors on the scalp, translucent papules on the nape of the neck, hypertrophic gingiva, and severe flexural contractures of large joints. The histopathology from the skin lesions showed features characteristic of juvenile hyaline fibromatosis. The cases are being reported on account of the extreme rarity of the condition.

Dexamethasone-cyclophosphamide pulse therapy in systemic lupus erythematosus.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Therapy systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) has been generally discouraging. Methyl-prednisolone pulse therapy has been used for various connective tissue disorders. We used intravenous dexamethasone cyclophosphamide pulse therapy to treat SLE. METHODS: Fourteen patients (10 females and 4 males) between the age of 15-48 years with definite or classical clinical criteria laid by American Rheumatism Association criteria were treated by Dexamethasone-Cyclophosphamide pulse (DCP) therapy at our center. RESULTS: It was possible to induce a complete clinical remission with DCP therapy in most of the patients thereby offering them life free from disease and drugs. The side effects commonly observed with conventional daily dose regimen of corticosteroids were not present or were mild. CONCLUSIONS: Almost all patients had good response after 3-4 pulses to allow them a normal life style. Fever, malar rash and oral ulceration responded early but photosensitivity, discoid rash, alopecia and joint pains took some more time.

Disseminated primary cutaneous histoplasmosis successfully treated with itraconazole.

A 60-year-old immunocompetent lady with disseminated primary cutaneous histoplasmosis is reported. Histology showed a granulomatous skin infiltrate with numerous intracellular PAS positive rounded yeast cells within macrophages. Culture on Sabouraud's dextrose agar yielded a typical cottony white colony characteristic of Histoplasma capsulatum. Treatment with itraconazole showed an excellent response.

Comparison of oral azithromycin pulse with daily doxycycline in the treatment of acne vulgaris.

INTRODUCTION: Oral azithromycin has been advocated by some in the treatment of acne. However, its efficacy has not been established. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This non-randomized controlled trial was conducted on 70 outpatients with acne vulgaris to compare the efficacy and safety of azithromycin and doxycycline in the treatment of inflammatory acne. In the first group, azithromycin was administered 500 mg daily before meals for 3 consecutive days in a 10-day cycle, with the remaining seven days in each cycle being drug-free days. The second group was given doxycycline 100 mg daily after meals. Topical erythromycin was prescribed to all patients. Clinical assessment was done at 10-day intervals for both the groups up to three months. We followed the severity index described by Michaelsson for assessment of outcome measures. RESULTS: There was 77.26% improvement in azithromycin treated group in comparison to 63.74% in the doxycycline treated group. There was a statistically significant reduction in severity in the azithromycin treated group. CONCLUSION: The study showed that a combination of azithromycin with topical erythromycin was significantly better than doxycycline with topical erythromycin in the treatment of acne vulgaris. The incidence and severity of side effects were also lower with azithromycin.

A retrospective study of clinico-histopathological correlation in leprosy.

Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium Leprae and is characterized by well-recognized pathological changes. But there are various disagreement in clinical type and histological finding of leprosy. We observed highest parity in LL and TT group followed by histoid, BT, BL, BB, & indeterminate respectively. There was 10% minor disagreement (difference of one group) and 5% major disagreement (difference of two or more group). Non-specific histological finding was present in 20% cases.

Entomological studies in a dengue endemic area, Jalore, Rajasthan.

Entomological studies on prevalence of adult and immatures of Aedes aegypti along with associated ecological factors have been conducted in a dengue endemic area of Jalore, Rajasthan from 1992 to 1993. Studies in two areas; reportedly affected and unaffected revealed more adults and higher breeding indices in the affected area as compared to the unaffected one. Mosquitoes harbouring dengue antigen were found only in the affected locality. Presence of dengue antigen in field caught mosquitoes in the affected locality was observed mainly during the months of January to April in both the years. Statistical analysis of data has shown a correlation to be significant between adult house index and breeding index in the affected area while this association was found insignificant in the unaffected locality. Water storage practices of the population due to irregular water supply in the affected area is the possible cause for a higher vector concentration in the locality. Seasonality of occurrence of dengue fever patients in a particular period of the year is associated with a relatively higher vector density and the presence of infected mosquitoes which is due to favourable temperature, relative humidity, water temperature and pH.

Dermatoglyphics in leprosy.

In the present study, dermatolyphic parameters were analysed in the handprints of 25 LL/BL, 25 TT/BT and 25 healthy persons, by printer's ink method. Frequency of loops, were more on right hand and whorls were more on left hand in LL patients as compared to normal healthy controls. In TT the whorls were less frequent than in controls. The a-b ridge count in LL patient has shown insignificant difference from control while the same in TT was significantly decreased (P less than 0.05). Distance between distal wrist crease and axial triradius was significantly decreased in LL as compared to normal (P less than 0.05), whereas no such decrease was observed in TT patients.