A report of two patients with lichen aureus.

Two patients with lichen aureus are described. The clinical and histologic features of our patients were compared with previously reported cases of lichen aureus in an effort to classify this entity properly among the pigmented purpuric dermatoses. We regard lichen aureus as a distinct entity. Although this disorder has been described principally in adult patients it began at the age of 14 years in one of our patients.

Acne in retarded boy with autosomal chromosomal abnormality.

The frequency of acne appears to be increased in boys and men of the XYY genotype. This report describes severe acne in a retarded man in whom chromosomal analysis with differential banding suggested duplication of the distal portion of the long arm of a number 13 chromosome, a partial trisomy 13. In addition to retardation and seizures, his malformations, which included narrowed temples, ear anomalies, hexadactyly, and hernias, were consistent with those reported previously in patients with partial trisomy for the distal segment of chromosome 13. This patient and one recently reported retarded boy with chronic acne and trisomy 8 mosaicism suggest that the association of acne and chromosomal abnormality may not be limited to Y chromosome excess.

Recent advances in the diagnosis and treatment of pemphigus.

Immunofluorescent techniques offer considerable promise in facilitating the diagnosis of pemphigus and other bullous diseases and also have provided a means for further investigative studies of these diseases. The immunofluorescent findings have in part stimulated the use of immunosuppressive agents in the management of pemphigus. Their exact status is still undetermined but early experience appears favorable.