[Vulvar pruritus: determination of the most common causes and their treatments]. / Prurito vulvar: determinación de las causas más frecuentes y su tratamiento.

Vulvar pruritus can be caused by a wide spectrum of diseases, that depend on age, environmental and genetic factors. The most common causes are candidiasis, contact dermatitis and lichen simplex chronicus. Candidiasis is the most common cause of acute vulvar pruritus and is characterized by burning, itching and vaginal whitish secretion. Contact dermatitis is caused by irritants or allergens that are in contact with the genital area, which causes imbalance in the skin barrier causing irritation, swelling, burning, among other manifestations. Lichen simplex chronicus is characterized by lichenification (thickening of the skin) secondary to the chronic itch-scratch cycle in vulvar area. It is an illnes with a tendency to chronicity, but with topical corticosteroids treatment usually might be controlled. Prompt treatment, multidisciplinary and careful attention to irritants and secondary infections prevent these entities become an important and permanent problem.

Epidermal Langerhans cells in Actinic Prurigo: a comparison between lesional and non-lesional skin.

BACKGROUND: Actinic Prurigo (AP) is a chronic pruritic dermatosis of unknown cause affecting sun exposed skin in defined ethnic groups with characteristic MHC alleles. However, the cutaneous dendritic cells have not been assessed. OBJECTIVE: To assess in situ the epidermal Langerhans Cell (LC) status in Actinic Prurigo. STUDY DESIGN: Fresh skin samples from three AP patients were used to evaluate in situ the epidermal LC, comparing lesional and non-lesional sites in each subject. SETTING: AP patients attending the Dermatology Department at the Hospital M. Gea-Gonzalez in Mexico city. METHODS: Lesional and non-lesional skin samples were taken from each subject to prepare both epidermal sheets and conventional tissue sections. Three markers restricted to LC in epidermis (CD1a, ATPase, MHC-II) were used to quantify the LC per area in epidermal sheets. RESULTS: Compared to non-lesional skin from the same subject, a significant reduction in the number of LC per area of epidermis was found in lesional skin; with any of the three markers evaluated. CONCLUSION: The frequency of epidermal LC decreases importantly in lesional skin from AP patients.