Poikilodermatous and verrucous mycosis fungoides.

Mycosis fungoides (MF) is a cutaneous lymphoma of presumed T-helper cell origin. It usually presents with patches and infiltrated plaques, but a wide range of atypical forms have also been described. We report a 48-year-old man who had a 2-year history of a pruritic, warty plaque on the right palm with surrounding poikilodermatous changes. He subsequently developed additional macules of poikiloderma atrophicans vasculare (PAV) on the right upper limb and abdomen. Biopsies from the arm showed poikilodermatous changes, and the warty plaque had features of MF. Verrucous or hyperkeratotic lesions appear to be an uncommon presenting feature of MF with few case reports in the literature to date. This presentation may be associated with considerable diagnostic delay, and MF should be considered in the differential diagnosis of acquired verrucous lesions. This case also illustrates that PAV may herald cutaneous malignancy, and that patients with this condition require close follow up.

Severe case of pemphigoid gestationis with unusual target antigen.

We report a severe case of pemphigoid gestationis (PG) with an unusual target antigen. The patient developed a severe itchy macular rash on the abdomen during her fifth pregnancy, at 38 weeks' gestation. The disease persisted for 8 months post-partum, and could only be controlled with high doses of systemic corticosteroids and dapsone. The diagnosis of PG was confirmed by direct and indirect immunofluorescence. A linear band of IgG and C3 was detected at the epidermal aspect of salt-split skin. Immunoblotting studies revealed circulating IgG antibodies binding to a single 200-kDa protein in epidermal extracts. Immunofluorescence studies using trypsinized human keratinocytes demonstrated uniform staining around the cell peripheries, suggesting that the target antigen was not associated with hemidesmosomes. These findings differ from the usual immunological features seen in PG, and suggest further heterogeneity of the antigens involved in PG.