A comparative study of hair shafts in scalp psoriasis and seborrheic dermatitis using atomic force microscopy.

BACKGROUND: As the inflammatory scalp conditions share similar clinical manifestations of scaling, inflammation, and pruritus, the differential diagnosis of these lesions; especially between scalp psoriasis (SP) and seborrheic dermatitis (SD) is sometimes difficult. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate the differences on the hair surface in SP and SD for a clinical diagnosis, using atomic force microscopy (AFM). METHODS: The hair shafts of 14 patients and 28 patients with SP and SD respectively, were taken from the lesional region. Hairs from healthy adults not having any hair diseases were also examined in the same way for the controls. Surface characteristics of SP and SD-affected hair shafts such as, pitting, scale thickness, and roughness, were observed on the AFM images. RESULTS: One hundred percentage and four percentage of the patients with SP and SD respectively had macropits on their hair shafts. In both the SP and SD-affected hairs, the scale thickness was more than 4-fold than that in the control hairs. The surface of SP-affected hairs was rougher than that of SD-affected and control hairs. CONCLUSION: The differences in hair shafts between SP and SD were investigated noninvasively using AFM. The presence of macropits could be helpful in the differentiation between SP and SD.

Investigation of the hair of patients with scalp psoriasis using atomic force microscopy.

BACKGROUND: Psoriasis affects not only the soft keratin of the skin, but also hard keratin, such as nails and hair. However, few studies have described the changes induced in the hair of patients with psoriasis. AIM: Using atomic force microscopy (AFM), we investigated the morphological property of hair samples taken from the scalp of patients with psoriasis. METHODS: Lesional and nonlesional hairs taken from 15 patients with scalp psoriasis were investigated. Hairs from 15 healthy adults were also examined as controls. Using AFM, surface images were taken of an area of 20 × 20 µm(2), with 512 × 512 pixels and a scan speed of 0.8 lines/s. results: Pits were frequently seen in the hair shafts of patients with psoriasis, similar to those seen in their nail plates. Macropit number, scale thickness and surface roughness were all significantly increased in lesional hairs compared with both nonlesional and control hairs, and macropits and scale thickness were also increased in nonlesional hairs compared with control hairs. CONCLUSIONS: The hair shafts of patients with scalp psoriasis exhibited the same macropits seen in their nails. Both lesional and nonlesional hairs had similar changes in morphological structure compared with controls. This supports the generalized nature of psoriasis, with changes in hair structure being analogous to the changes seen in skin and nails.

Unilateral eruptive vellus hair cysts occurring on the face.

Eruptive vellus hair cysts (EVHC) are small, cystic papules that usually occur on the chest and extremities. Their aetiology is unknown. Fewer than 10 cases of a variant form of EVHC that occur exclusively on the face have been reported. We describe a case of EVHC limited to the right side of the face. To the best of our knowledge, no case of unilateral EVHC has been reported.

Pedunculated atypical cellular blue nevus.

Atypical variants of cellular blue nevus are considered to have features intermediate between typical cellular blue nevus and rare malignant blue nevus; they usually show bizarre pleomorphic cells which have prominent nucleoli. We describe a 37-year-old-Korean woman who had had an asymptomatic pedunculated single mass on her right thigh for 17 years. A skin biopsy showed a tumor consisting of intensely pigmented dendritic cells and less or nonpigmented epitheloid cells in the dermis with striking atypia. There has been no evidence of recurrence for 3 years after surgery. The diagnosis of atypical cellular blue nevus was made on the basis of clinical features and skin biopsy findings.

Generalized tuberous xanthoma with type IV hyperlipoproteinemia.

We report a case of generalized tuberous xanthoma with type IV hyperlipoproteinemia in a 42-year-old woman who had multiple, grouped, yellowish brown nodules bilaterally on the trunk, knees, elbows, palms, soles, and dorsal sides of multiple interphalangeal joints. On laboratory examination, serum triglyceride levels were elevated, and the pre-beta-lipoprotein band was increased on lipoprotein electrophoresis. Histopathologic findings showed many Touton giant cells and numerous foam cells in the dermis.

Abnormalities of T-cell subsets in Behçet's syndrome.

T cells and T-cell subsets were determined in the peripheral blood of 12 patients with Behçet's syndrome and 30 normal healthy control subjects. When compared with the control group, the mean percentage of T cells for the group with Behçet's syndrome was significantly decreased (73% v 61%). The mean percentage of T mu (helper) cells for the group with Behçet's syndrome (26%) was also significantly decreased from the mean value of the control group (42%). There was a concomitant significant increase of T gamma (suppressor) cells of the group with Behçet's syndrome (19%) over the mean value of the control group (10%). These results clearly indicated that there were alterations of T cells and T-cell subsets in this disease.