Association of HLA class I and class II alleles with psoriasis vulgaris in Turkish population Influence of type I and II psoriasis

To investigate the role of human leukocyte antigen [HLA] in susceptibility to psoriasis vulgaris in the Northeast region of Turkey and to contribute to the data related to HLA and psoriasis. The study included 72 unrelated psoriatic patients [43 men and 29 women; aged 11-76 years] admitted to the Dermatology Department, University Research Hospital, Erzurum, Turkey between April 2002 and November 2003. We studied the distribution of HLA class I and II antigens in patients with psoriasis: 72 patients were divided into 2 groups according to the onset of psoriasis before age 40 years with family history [type I] and onset after age 40 without family history [type II]. The HLA class I and II antigens were analyzed using the PCR-SSP method in 72 patients and in 104 controls. We found an increase in HLA-A30 and A68, B7, Bl3, B57,Cw6, and DRB 107 antigens in psoriatic patients compared with controls. As we compared type I and type II psoriasis with control group, B57, Cw6 and DRB 107 alleles were more significant in patients with type I psoriasis. Our patients with type II psoriasis represented a significant association with the HLA-B13. Our findings along with previous HLA studies on psoriasis vulgaris patients from different racial groups showed that HLA-B57 and DRBI 07 alleles are associated with the disease

Absence of a Sphenoid Wing in Neurofibromatosis Type 1 Disease: Imaging with Multidetector Computed Tomography

Neurofibromatosis type 1 disease is characterized by pigmented cutaneous lesions and generalized tumors of a neural crest origin and it may affect all the systems of the human body. Sphenoid dysplasia is one of the characteristics of this syndrome and it occurs in 5-10% of the cases; further, abnormalities of the sphenoid wings are often considered pathognomonic. However, complete agenesis of a sphenoid wing is very rare. We report here on an unusual case of neurofibromatosis type 1 disease with the associated absence of a sphenoid wing that was diagnosed by using multidetector computed tomography.