ABSTRACT
Keratitis-Ichthyosis-Deafness (KID) syndrome (OMIM 148210) is a congenital ectodermal defect. KID consists of an atypical ichthyosiform erythroderma associated with congenital sensorineural deafness. A rare form of the KID syndrome is a fatal course in the first year of life due to severe skin lesion infections and septicaemia. KID appears to be genetically heterogeneous and may be caused by mutations in connexin 26 or connexin 30 genes. GJB2 mutations in the connexin 26 gene are the main cause of the disease. Most of the cases caused by GJB2 mutations are sporadic, but dominant transmission has also been described. To date, the rare lethal form of the disease has been only observed in two Caucasian sporadic patients with the GJB2 mutation, with the p.Gly45Glu (G45E) arising de novo. We have reported an African family with dizygotic twins suffering from a lethal form of KID. The dizygosity of the twins was confirmed by microsatellite markers. The two patients were heterozygous for the G45E mutation of GJB2, whereas the mutation was not detected in the two parents. The unusual transmission of the disease observed in this family could be explained by the occurrence of a somatic or more probably a germinal mosaic in one of the parents.
Subject(s)
Connexins/genetics , Deafness/genetics , Diseases in Twins/genetics , Ichthyosis/genetics , Keratitis/genetics , Connexin 26 , Fatal Outcome , Female , Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Male , Mutation , Syndrome , Twins, DizygoticABSTRACT
A patient with an ulcerated cutaneous leishmaniasis of the pinna had suppurative otochondritis after a first unsuccessful course of treatment with meglumine antimoniate. Although the Leishmania ulceration healed after a second course of meglumine antimoniate, and despite three oral dicloxacillin or pristinamycin courses, the otochondritis extended and an abscess developed. Pus from the abscess revealed a pure culture of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Five days of oral ciprofloxacin plus rifampin led to a marked improvement. The P. aeruginosa isolate was sensitive to ciprofloxacin but fully resistant to rifampin. Healing with minimal mutilation was obtained at the end of a six-week course of multiple antibiotic therapy. Pseudomonas aeruginosa otochondritis was a co-factor of cartilage mutilation in this patient. Thus, infection with P. aeruginosa should be promptly treated when present in tender cutaneous or mucosal leishmaniasis lesions near cartilaginous areas.
