ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The relationship between impaired quality of life (QoL) due to melasma and its clinical severity remains equivocal despite several studies. AIM: The aim was to study the correlation, if any, between the clinical severity and the impairment in QOL due to melasma. METHODS: This cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study was conducted on a cohort of 141 patients of melasma attending the outpatient department of our referral hospital. A physician measured the severity of melasma using the melasma area and severity index (MASI), while melasma-related QoL (MELASQOL) score was calculated utilizing the validated Hindi version of the MELASQOL questionnaire filled by the patients. Correlations of these two scores with each other and with components of the demographic data were attempted using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, version 20. RESULTS: Significantly greater impairment in QoL was found in patients with a history of prior use of triple combination therapy and in patients with hirsutism and/or polycystic ovarian disease. The severity of melasma was found to be significantly higher in patients with a history of recurrence and tobacco chewing. LIMITATIONS: The sample size could have been larger. Ultrasonography could have been carried out in all cases of hirsutism. CONCLUSION: The severity of melasma does not correlate with the impairment in QoL.
ABSTRACT
Pyoderma gangrenosum is a rare noninfective neutrophilic dermatosis, characterized by progressive painful ulceration. It is frequently associated with systemic disorders like inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis and myeloproliferative diseases. However, its association with infectious diseases in particular with tuberculosis is extremely rare. Diagnosis is based on the history of an underlying disease, a typical clinical presentation, histopathology and exclusion of other diseases leading to ulcerations of similar appearance. Immunosuppression with corticosteroids remains the mainstay of treatment. We report a case of a 49-year-old male with long-standing ulcerative colitis, associated with tuberculosis of hip, who presented with nonhealing ulcers over the lower extremity.
ABSTRACT
Cancer metastases represent the most devastating aspect of malignancy, since the mortality of cancer patients is mainly related to the metastatic behavior of the primary neoplasm. Skin metastases are usually late events in the course of tumor progression. Excluding melanoma, the most common tumor to metastasize to the skin is breast cancer. Patients who develop cutaneous metastases rarely present with a zosteriform distribution. Herein, we present a 60-year-old female, an undiagnosed case of breast cancer, with zosteriform metastases along her right T2-T3 dermatome.
