Penile linear porokeratosis in a child: a case report.

We report a 15-year-old boy with a 2 year history of erythematous, linear atrophic lesions on the dorsum penis and the inner part of the praeputium. A biopsy revealed changes typical of linear porokeratosis. Potential implications for subsequent development of penile carcinoma are discussed.

Varicella vaccination in children with atopic eczema.

Chickenpox in children may be complicated by local or systemic bacterial infections. Group A streptococci and S. aureus are the predominant pathogens. Children with atopic dermatitis are particularly prone to bacterial superinfection. After the introduction of universal varicella vaccination in the USA ten years ago, the number of serious bacterial soft tissue infections in children dropped significantly. Since 2004, the VZV immunization has also been included in the routine German series.Many children with atopic dermatitis have not been immunized because of concerns on the part of parents or physicians. Recent studies demonstrated the safety and efficacy of VZV vaccination in children with atopic dermatitis who appear to benefit particularly from this vaccination.

Cutaneous larva migrans in northern Germany.

We report a 14-month-old female infant with typical cutaneous larva migrans, but without a history of travelling outside Germany. Cutaneous larva migrans is most commonly observed in and imported from tropical countries. Only a few cases have been described in northern Europe. This report serves as a reminder that under certain circumstances acquisition of this "tropical" parasite is possible even in non-tropical countries.

Zinc-deficiency dermatitis in breast-fed infants.

We report ten infants (mean gestational age: 30 weeks; range: 25 to 40 weeks) with zinc deficiency dermatitis who developed erosive, impetiginized periorificial dermatitis at 10 weeks of age (corresponding to a mean gestational age of 41.4 weeks, with a range of 36-44 weeks), but who were otherwise well. Cutaneous symptoms were initially misdiagnosed as eczema or impetigo in 8/10 (80%) children who received either topical (4/8) and/or systemic (6/8) antibiotics. Topical corticosteroids were applied in 4/10 infants for a mean time of 4 weeks (range: 2 to 5 weeks) before the correct diagnosis was established by decreased serum zinc levels; skin atrophy (telangiectasia, thinning) as a complication of topical steroid treatment (class II steroids) was observed in two infants. All children responded to oral therapy with zinc sulfate or zinc gluconate (1.5-4 mg/kg/d). Skin lesions started to clear within 24 h after the initiation of therapy and had completely cleared in all infants after 14 days of therapy (range: 3-14 days). We conclude that nutritional zinc deficiency is a frequently misdiagnosed problem in thriving, fully breast-fed preterm babies. It is attributable to the decreased zinc content of human milk as compared to cow's milk, and the increased demand of zinc in rapidly thriving preterm infants. It seems advisable to routinely check serum zinc levels in fully breast-fed preterm infants who do not receive regular oral zinc supplementation once they reach a gestational age of 40 weeks.

Influence of a new surface modification of intraocular lenses with fluoroalkylsilan on the adherence of endophthalmitis-causing bacteria in vitro.

INTRODUCTION: Dynasilan is a fluoroalkylsilan that is able to interact with surface active centres on intraocular lenses (IOL), offering a new way for surface modification of different IOL materials. The purpose of this in vitro study was to investigate the influence of this new surface modification on the adherence of two typical endophthalmitis causing bacteria (Staphylococcus epidermidis, Propionibacterium acnes). MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a pilot experiment, the effect of Dynasilan coating on the adherence of S. epidermidis was tested on glass slides. Forty-two Dynasilan-modified and 42 unmodified IOL (14 PMMA, 14 silicone and 14 hydrogel) were incubated at 37 degrees C in brain heart infusion broth (10(8) CFU/ml) with either S. epidermidis for 24 h or with P. acnes for 1 h. Subsequently, the adherent bacteria were resuspended using ultrasonification at 35 kHz for 3x45 s. After dilution series and incubation at 37 degrees C on Petri dishes for 24 h and 3 days, respectively, the colonies were counted. RESULTS: In the pilot experiment, a markedly lower number of adherent S. epidermidis was observed on Dynasilan-modified glass slides. Of all IOL materials incubated with S. epidermidis, those modified with Dynasilan showed a lower mean number of adherent bacteria (mean 1.37x10(7); SD 2.37x10(7)) than those untreated (2.43x10(7); SD 3.04x10(7)). IOLs incubated with P. acnes showed a significantly lower mean number of adherent bacteria of 2.51x10(4) (SD 2.71x10(4)) on Dynasilan-modified IOLs versus 6.27x10(4) (SD 7.70x10(4)) on untreated IOLs. CONCLUSION: The presented in vitro results indicate that Dynasilan surface modification is able to reduce the adherence of S. epidermidis and P. acnes on all IOL materials tested. Further studies regarding the stability of this modification and its biocompatibility must be performed.