Quality of life assessment in male patients with androgenetic alopecia: result of a prospective, multicenter study.

BACKGROUND: Androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is a common hair loss disease with genetic predisposition among men and women, and it may commence at any age after puberty. It may significantly affect a variety of psychological and social aspects of one's life and the individual's overall quality of life (QoL). OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the QoL of AGA patients and discover the factors that can influence the QoL of AGA patients, including previous experience in non-medical hair care, reasons for hospital visits, age, duration, and the severity of AGA. METHODS: A total of 998 male patients with AGA were interviewed, using the Hair Specific Skindex-29 to evaluate the QoL of AGA patients. RESULTS: The results of the Hair Specific Skindex-29 on patients with AGA were as follows: symptom scale: 26.3±19.5, function scale: 24.0±20.1, emotion scale: 32.1±21.8, and global score: 27.3±19.1. According to this assessment, QoL was more damaged if the patient had severe alopecia, a longer duration of AGA, younger age, had received previous non-medical hair care, and visited the hospital for AGA treatment. CONCLUSION: This study showed that AGA could harmfully affect the patients' QoL. These findings indicate that dermatologists should address these QoL issues when treating patients with alopecia.

Photodistributed telangiectasia induced by amlodipine.

Calcium channel blockers are widely used antihypertensive drugs, which are uncommonly associated with cutaneous reactions, such as pruritus, urticaria, or alopecia. Photosensitivity presenting with telangiectasia has rarely been described. We present here a case of photodistributed telangiectasia induced clinically by amlodipine and histologically by enlarged capillaries in the upper dermis without signs of vasculitis.

Chromoblastomycosis Caused by Fonsecaea pedrosoi.

We report herein a case of chromoblastomycosis caused by Fonsecaea (F.) pedrosoi in a 39-year-old male, who showed multiple, asymptomatic, scaly erythematous plaques on the left shin for 12 months. Histopathologically, chronic granulomatous inflammation and either sclerotic or muriform cells were observed. The fungal culture produced typical black colonies of F. pedrosoi. The DNA sequence of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the clinical sample was 100% match to that of F. pedrosoi IFM 47061 (GenBank accession number AB240943). The patient was treated with 200 mg of itraconazole daily, for 3 months. Skin lesions were improved. In Korea, only 9 cases of chromoblastomycosis, including this case, have been reported until now. The etiologic agent was F. pedrosoi in the majority of cases (6/9;67%). The incidence of chromoblastomycosis was slightly higher in female, and the upper limbs were more affected than the lower limbs in patients.

A case of cicatricial alopecia associated with erlotinib.

Erlotinib is a small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Erlotinib has been used primarily to treat non-small cell lung cancer. In addition to its role in tumor cells, EGFR is also an important regulator of growth and differentiation in the skin and hair. Therefore, EGFR-TKIs have been associated with a number of cutaneous side effects including follicular acneiform eruptions, cutaneous xerosis, chronic paronychia, desquamation, seborrheic dermatitis, and hair texture changes. Herein, we report a rare case of a 61-year-old woman who was treated with erlotinib and experienced cicatricial alopecia.

Acral angioosteoma cutis.

Acral angioosteoma cutis is a benign lesion of unknown pathogenesis and is a newly described, distinct entity from other cutaneous lesions. It is clinically characterized by an exophytic lesion resembling pyogenic granuloma on the acral skin, combined with histologic findings of multiple tiny spicules composed of woven bone between well-formed capillaries proliferating in the superficial dermis. Here, we present a case of acral angioosteoma cutis on the left third toe of a 58-year-old woman, which was successfully treated by excision.

A case of neutrophilic dermatosis of the dorsal hands with concomitant involvement of the lips.

Neutrophilic dermatosis of the dorsal hands (NDDH) is a localized, pustular variant of acute febrile neutrophilic dermatosis (Sweet syndrome). The lesions of NDDH clinically resemble those of Sweet syndrome (SS), but they differ from classic SS according to their locations (NDDH is predominantly restricted to the dorsal hands) and the smaller number of accompanying systemic symptoms. The histology of the NDDH lesion shows a dense dermal neutrophilic infiltration. The lesions rapidly resolve after systemic corticosteroid and/or dapsone therapy. We herein report on a case of neutrophilic dermatosis of the dorsal hands in a 34-year-old woman. The patient also had skin changes with erythematous plaque on the right lips.

Rhabdomyomatous mesenchymal hamartoma of the vagina.

Rhabomyomatous mesenchymal hamartoma (RMH) is a rare hamartomatous lesion in the dermis and subcutaneous tissue. We report a case of solitary RMH occurring on the vagina of a newborn infant.