ABSTRACT
The aim of this study is to assess the associations between chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU), Helicobacter pylori infection and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. Forty- eight patients with CSU were studied by scoring the urticaria activity and assesing the quality of life. Patients with H. pylori infection (n=11) or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (n=13) were specifically treated for one week and clinically evaluated both before and 4 weeks after the eradication therapy. Eradication of H. pylori infection led to a significant improvement in CSU (p<0.002). In contrast, eradication of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth was not associated with any clinical improvement in CSU, despite the fact that these patients had statistically significant more urticaria activity at baseline. Thus there is no evidence to support the eradication of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth in CSU, but eradication of H. pylori infection may result in an improvement of the disease.
Subject(s)
Helicobacter Infections/microbiology , Helicobacter pylori/growth & development , Intestine, Small/microbiology , Urticaria/microbiology , Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use , Chronic Disease , Female , Helicobacter Infections/diagnosis , Helicobacter Infections/drug therapy , Helicobacter Infections/epidemiology , Humans , Intestine, Small/drug effects , Italy/epidemiology , Male , Prevalence , Prospective Studies , Quality of Life , Risk Factors , Severity of Illness Index , Time Factors , Treatment Outcome , Urticaria/diagnosis , Urticaria/epidemiologyABSTRACT
Porokeratosis of Mibelli is an uncommon chronic disorder of epidermal keratinization that should be treated because it can undergo malignant change into epithelial tumors on the lesions. At the moment, it represents a therapeutic challenge for dermatologists because of the lack of standardized guidelines about the treatment. Herein, we report a case of classic porokeratosis of Mibelli treated with photodynamic therapy successfully.
