Psoriasis folicular, esa gran desconocida / Follicular Psoriasis, the great unknown

La psoriasis es una enfermedad cutánea crónica caracterizada más frecuentemente por placas eritematosas que aparecen normalmente con una distribución característica en superficie de extensión de extremidades, zonas de presión y cuero cabelludo. Aunque el diagnóstico diferencial de la psoriasis es amplio, el reconocimiento de esta entidad puede ser realizado mediante una correcta anamnesis y exploración física en la mayoría de los casos. La psoriasis folicular es una variante infradiagnosticada entre las diversas formas de psoriasis bien documentadas en la bibliografía (AU)

Psoriasis is a chronic skin disorder most commonly characterized by well-demarcated erythematous plaques with a typical distribution on extensor areas of limbs, pressure areas and scalp. Although the differential diagnosis of psoriasis is broad, its identification can be made by means of careful anamnesis and physical examination in the vast majority of cases. Follicular psoriasis is an under-diagnosed variant among the other well documented forms of psoriasis (AU)

Pityriasis Alba--Common Disease, Enigmatic Entity: Up-to-Date Review of the Literature.

Pityriasis alba (PA) is a skin disorder that affects children and adolescents. Although it is common worldwide, its incidence is markedly higher in darker skin phototypes. Its characteristic features include an extended, multistage course and spontaneous remissions and recurrences. Preceded by erythematous changes, patches of hypopigmented skin of up to a few centimeters in diameter appear on the upper body. Pruritus may accompany it. Even though its etiology is unknown, possible reported triggering factors include sunlight, beauty treatments, and microorganisms, among others. Calcineurin inhibitors play the most crucial role in PA pharmacotherapy. PA often coexists with atopic dermatitis and is considered one of its milder forms.

A comprehensive pathophysiology of dandruff and seborrheic dermatitis - towards a more precise definition of scalp health.

Despite an increasing knowledge of dandruff and seborrheic dermatitis (D/SD), the pathophysiological understanding is still incomplete but suggests a role of Malassezia yeasts in triggering inflammatory and hyper-proliferative epidermal responses. The objective of this report is to review published literature from in vivo studies of D/SD populations to provide a more complete description of overall scalp health. New biomolecular capabilities establish a depth of pathophysiological understanding not previously achievable with traditional means of investigation. Biomarkers representing inflammation, hyper-proliferation and barrier function are all perturbed by the D/SD condition and robustly respond to therapeutic resolution. These biomarkers can be sampled noninvasively, enabling their use in routine clinical evaluations as either surrogate endpoints or complementary ones to classical signs/symptoms to broaden the etiological learning.

Pityriasis amiantacea: a clinical and etiopathologic study of 85 patients.

BACKGROUND: Studies on pityriasis amiantacea (PA) in the literature are limited and mostly retrospective. We prospectively analyzed the clinical and etiopathologic factors in a large series of PA diagnosed at our department within a defined period (2000-01). METHODS: All PA patients who attended our department were evaluated clinically and underwent bacteriologic, mycologic, and histopathologic examinations. Forty healthy control persons were similarly subjected to bacteriologic and mycologic investigations of their scalp hairs. RESULTS: A total of 85 PA patients were collected and studied. Pathological diagnosis of scalp psoriasis was confirmed in 35.3% of cases. Eczematous features suggesting a diagnosis of seborrheic and atopic dermatitis were detected in 34.2%. Diagnosis of tinea capitis, diagnosed by potassium hydroxide preparation, fungal culture, and periodic-acid Schiff staining, was detected in 12.9% of the PA patients. Staphylococcus isolates were detected in 96.5% of the PA patients compared with 15% in healthy persons as the control (P > 0.00001). CONCLUSIONS: Pityriasis amiantacea represents a particular reaction pattern of the scalp to various inflammatory scalp diseases. The most frequent skin diseases associated with PA are psoriasis and seborrheic dermatitis. It is important to keep the diagnosis of tinea capitis in mind when evaluating PA patients. Staphylococci on the scalp could participate in the pathogenesis of PA.

Functional and morphological analysis of the horny layer of pityriasis alba.

The affected skin of pityriasis alba showed functional defects in both hygroscopicity and water-holding capacity detectable by water sorption-desorption test. Furthermore using skin surface biopsy technique in 5 patients, we noted that the mean area of corneocyte obtained from the affected skin of pityriasis alba was smaller and that the surface of that area showed a more prominent villous pattern than the adjacent normal skin in scanning electron microscopical observation. In this study we demonstrated the abnormalities of the horny layer in pityriasis alba, which suggest that the condition is similar to a dermatitic change and that its hypopigmentation may be due to postinflammatory mechanisms.

[Dandruff (pityriasis simplex capillitii)]. / Zur Kopfschuppung (Pityriasis simplex capillitii).

In this review of new studies about dandruff, methods for clinical (subjective) evaluation and quantitative (objective) appraisal of dandruff are described. Current concepts about histopathology, cytology, biochemistry and etiopathogenesis of this common condition of the scalp are detailed.