[Immunohistochemistry of Borrelia type spirochetes]. / Identification immunohistochimique des spirochètes de type Borrelia.

We have looked for the presence of Borrelias by immunohistochemistry in cutaneous biopsies taken from patients with positive Borrelia serology. We used the monoclonal antibody "P41 Borrelia burgdorferi flagellin". We found Borrelias in the dermis of Pick-Herxheimer disease (3/3), erythema chronicum migrans (6/9), lymphocytoma (1/3), and morpheas (2/5). They were also seen in the vascular wall of hypodermal arterioles in a case of cutaneous periarteritis nodosa (1/2). Treponema pallidum was not revealed by the antibody.

Keratosis punctata of the palmar creases.

We compared the prevalence of keratosis punctata of the palmar creases among populations living in Belgium, Togo, Peru and the United Arab Emirates. It appears that black Africans and Hindous (prevalence 1 to 2%) are more often affected than Latin Americans (prevalence less than 0.1%). The disease was not seen among Europeans and Arabs. Histologically, the lesions consist of a marked hyperkeratosis located at the site of acrosyringia. The disease should therefore be considered as a sweat gland disorder.

Cyanoacrylate skin surface stripping: an improved approach for distinguishing dysplastic nevi from malignant melanomas.

We present a novel approach for improving the management of patients with pigmented neoplasms including malignant melanomas and dysplastic nevi. A cohort of 215 dysplastic nevi and malignant melanomas was studied by cyanoacrylate skin surface stripping (CSSS) and conventional histology. Presence of atypical melanocytes was found in the stratum corneum in more than 95% of malignant melanomas and was always absent in dysplastic nevi. We conclude that this non-invasive technique is rapid, easy to perform, and inexpensive. Its specificity and sensitivity are high enough to be considered by clinicians as an aid for distinguishing dysplastic nevi from malignant melanomas. We recommend this ancillary technique as a screening procedure though not as a substitute for conservative excisional biopsy, when doubt persists in the diagnosis of atypical pigmented neoplasms.

The fate of hypodermis after liposuction surgery.

Liposuction surgery can be viewed as a trauma to the hypodermis. With histologic, morphometric, and autoradiographic examination and the use of tritiated thymidine, uridine, and proline, we have studied the fate of adipose tissue at various intervals after liposuction; however, we have never seen a reparative proliferation of the residual lipocytes. Moreover, the metabolic activity of adipocytes apparently is not increased. Inflammatory reaction is minimal in the early weeks, but fibrosis takes place in some lobules of the hypodermis. Our data support the view that liposuction has a long-term effect on the structure of the hypodermis, without any stimulation in the proliferative and biosynthetic activity of residual adipocytes.

[Histiocytofibroma and Dupuytren's palmar fibromatosis. Comparative autohistoradiographic study of their proliferative and biosynthetic activities]. / Histiocytofibrome et fibromatose palmaire de Dupuytren. Etude autohistoradiographique comparative de leurs activités prolifératives et biosynthétiques.

The proliferative rate and synthesis of proteins was studied in histiocytofibromas and in nodules of Dupuytren's palmar fibromatosis. Incorporations of tritiated thymidine and tritiated proline were used and revealed by autohistoradiography. In the two diseases, proliferation and protein synthesis occurred predominantly in cells of the vascular walls while the other cells constitutive of the lesions appeared less active.