Penile calciphylaxis: A retrospective case-control study.

BACKGROUND: Calciphylaxis is a rare disorder characterized by skin necrosis caused by calcium deposition within vessels, thrombosis, and subsequent tissue ischemia. Penile involvement may rarely occur. OBJECTIVE: To identify risk factors, diagnosis, management, and mortality of patients with penile calciphylaxis. METHODS: A retrospective medical record review was conducted of 16 patients with penile calciphylaxis treated at 2 large urban tertiary care centers between January 2001 and December 2019. A control group of 44 male patients with nonpenile calciphylaxis at the same institution was included. RESULTS: The median survival of patients with penile calciphylaxis was 3.8 months (interquartile range, 27.0 months). Mortality was 50% at 3 months and 62.5% at 6 months for penile calciphylaxis, and 13.6% at 3 months and 29.5% at 6 months for controls (P = .008). Patients with penile calciphylaxis were less likely to be obese (P = .04) but more likely to have hyperparathyroidism (P = .0003) and end-stage renal disease (P = .049). LIMITATIONS: Retrospective study design and small sample size. CONCLUSIONS: This study further defines the disease course of penile calciphylaxis, which has high mortality. Imaging may be used to aid diagnosis. Risk factors include end-stage renal disease, hyperparathyroidism, and normal body mass index.

Use of teledermatology by dermatology hospitalists is effective in the diagnosis and management of inpatient disease.

BACKGROUND: Patient outcomes are improved when dermatologists provide inpatient consultations. Inpatient access to dermatologists is limited, illustrating an opportunity to use teledermatology. Little is known about the ability of dermatologists to accurately diagnose disease and manage inpatients with teledermatology, particularly when using nondermatologist-generated clinical data. METHODS: This prospective study assessed the ability of teledermatology to diagnose disease and manage 41 dermatology consultations from a large urban tertiary care center, using internal medicine referral documentation and photographs. Twenty-seven dermatology hospitalists were surveyed. Interrater agreement was assessed by the κ statistic. RESULTS: There was substantial agreement between in-person and teledermatology assessment of the diagnosis with differential diagnosis (median κ = 0.83), substantial agreement in laboratory evaluation decisions (median κ = 0.67), almost perfect agreement in imaging decisions (median κ = 1.0), and moderate agreement in biopsy decisions (median κ = 0.43). There was almost perfect agreement in treatment (median κ = 1.0), but no agreement in follow-up planning (median κ = 0.0). There was no association between raw photograph quality and the primary plus differential diagnosis or primary diagnosis alone. LIMITATIONS: Selection bias and single-center nature. CONCLUSIONS: Teledermatology may be effective in the inpatient setting, with concordant diagnosis, evaluation, and management decisions.

Vesiculobullous and hemorrhagic erythema migrans: uncommon variants of a common disease.

BACKGROUND: The diagnosis of Lyme disease relies on the accurate diagnosis of erythema chronicum migrans (ECM) because serologic tests, culture, and polymerase chain reactions are often inaccurate. Although ECM is classically associated with a targetoid rash, there are many variants of this lesion. These variants of ECM are often initially diagnosed as cellulitis or spider bite reactions and treated with oral antibiotics. Inappropriate treatment further delays the diagnosis of Lyme disease, leading to late complications. METHODS: We present four cases of vesiculobullous and hemorrhagic ECM, a less common variant of ECM. RESULTS: All four patients had a history of exposure to wooded areas in Massachusetts during the summer months. In these patients, ECM presented with central vesicles and bullae with hemorrhage, crusting, and in some cases necrosis. Serologic testing was positive in three of the four cases at presentation. In one case, microscopic examination of a skin biopsy showed epidermal spongiosis with parakeratosis, focal necrosis, papillary dermal edema, erythrocyte extravasation, and a superficial and deep perivascular lymphocytic infiltrate with neutrophils and eosinophils of the dermis. No fungal organisms or bacteria were identified. All four patients were treated with doxycycline with complete resolution of symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: It is important to recognize the vesiculobullous and hemorrhagic variants of ECM in order to minimize the provision of inappropriate antibiotic treatment for other diagnoses. Early diagnosis of ECM and the initiation of appropriate antibiotics may prevent late complications of Lyme disease.

The clinical profile of Merkel cell carcinoma in mainland China.

BACKGROUND: Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is an aggressive cutaneous malignancy, but little is known about the presence or characteristics of MCC in mainland China. A retrospective chart review was conducted to describe the clinical profile of MCC in China. MATERIALS AND METHODS: At 18 cancer or dermatology hospitals in metropolitan centers from the six geographical regions of mainland China, approximately 3,100,000 pathology database and medical records were searched for cases that had a pathological diagnosis of MCC between 1970 and 2009. A case series was compiled from retrospective chart reviews of identified patients with MCC. RESULTS: Eight out of 18 participating hospitals reported at least one record of a patient with a pathological diagnosis of MCC, and a total of 22 cases were identified. The median age of patients was 65.5 years, and 59% were female. The median time from the appearance of a lesion to the time of biopsy was six months, and the most common location of lesions was the head and neck. The most common treatment used was surgery alone. CONCLUSIONS: Merkel cell carcinoma appears to be uncommon in mainland China. Patients in this series are elderly, often had lesions on the head/neck region, and most commonly received surgery alone as treatment. In contrast with MCC in Western countries, the current series' patients were all of Asian ethnicity, had larger lesions at presentation, and none was documented as having HIV or other forms of immunosuppression.

Long-term survival after esophagectomy for early esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in Linxian, China.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Linxian in Henan Province, China, has among the highest rates of esophageal cancer worldwide. Little is known about long-term survival after esophagectomy for early neoplastic lesions found during early detection screening. A long-term survival analysis was performed for 315 patients from Linxian who received esophagectomy for early esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). METHODS: Cases that received esophagectomy for early ESCC were age- and gender-matched with two healthy controls, and Kaplan-Meier survival analyses were performed for both groups. RESULTS: Ten-year survival was 77% for cases and 64% for controls, and this difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.33). There were no significant differences in survival based on age or gender (P > 0.05). Cases with ESCC in situ had significantly better survival than cases with invasive ESCC (P = 0.035). CONCLUSIONS: Survival of cases who received esophagectomy for early ESCC was not significantly different from survival of age- and gender-matched controls. Early intervention probably improved survival rates for these patients who otherwise would most likely have developed advanced esophageal carcinoma. Early screening and intervention are highly relevant in areas with a high risk of esophageal cancer such as Linxian, China.

Morphological types and connectivity of horizontal cells found in the adult zebrafish (Danio rerio) retina.

We describe here different types of horizontal cells in the zebrafish retina and how they connect to photoreceptors. To label horizontal cells, crystals of DiI were placed onto the tips of pulled glass pipettes and inserted into the inner nuclear layer of fixed whole-mount retinas. The DiI-labeled horizontal cells were imaged by confocal microscopy and analyzed according to dendritic arborization, cell depth, dendritic terminal morphology, and connectivity with photoreceptors. Three types of horizontal cells were unequivocally identified: two cone-connecting (H1/2 and H3) and one rod-related cell. H1/2 cells have dendritic terminals that are arranged in "rosette" clusters and that connect to cone photoreceptors without any apparent specificity. H3 cells are larger and have dendritic terminal doublets arranged in a rectilinear pattern. This pattern corresponds to the mosaic of the single cones in the zebrafish photoreceptor mosaic and indicates that H3 cells connect specifically to either the blue-sensitive (long-single) or ultraviolet-sensitive (short-single) cones. Thus, H3 cells are likely to be chromaticity-type cells that process specific color information, whereas H1/2 cells are probably luminosity-type cells that process luminance information. Rod horizontal cells were identified by their shape and dendritic pattern, and they connect with numerous rod photoreceptors via small spherical terminals.