Linear atrophoderma of Moulin: treatment with Potaba.

Linear atrophoderma is a rare disease, first described by Moulin in 1992 in 5 patients, clinically characterized by hyperpigmented, depressed band-like areas along Blaschko's lines. To date, the disease has no effective treatment. We report the seventh case of this condition in a 16-year-old girl and discuss clinical and histopathologic findings, emphasizing the benefit of the potassium aminobenzoate (Potaba) treatment which provided an early stabilization of the skin lesions.

[A cholesterol embolism during heparin treatment]. / Embolismo de colesterol durante el tratamiento con heparina.

The cholesterol embolization is a rare complication of atherosclerosis. A direct implication of the treatment with anticoagulants in the etiology of the disease has been questioned, and now such therapy is considered more as an adjuvant factor with angiographic procedures than as a cause. A 60-year-old patient with an ischemic cardiomyopathy presented cholesterol embolization syndrome, confirmed by cutaneous biopsy histologic examination during treatment with heparin. Spontaneous evolution was favourable and only limited amputation of the lower limbs were required. The authors think that cholesterol emboli have a direct relationship to the treatment with heparin in this case, there being no other causes to justify its appearance.

[Anatomopathologic evaluation of the pathergic reaction in Andalusian patients with Behçet's disease]. / Valoración anatomopatológica de la reacción patérgica en andaluces con enfermedad de Behçet.

Pathergic reaction (PR) has been recently included in a system of diagnostic criteria for Behçet's disease (BD), justified for its high frequency in several countries like Turkey (58%). As in occidental countries it is much less common, we advise to evaluate its diagnostic usefulness in our country. An anatomopathological study of the PR in 23 patients with BD, and 14 healthy volunteers, was conducted. Punch samples were stained with hematoxylin-eosine and for immunofluorescence. Macroscopically, there was no PR in any person (neither patients nor controls). About half of the patients showed leukocytoclastic vasculitis and/or cellular infiltration (mainly neutrophilic). These findings are no specifics (they were seen in same controls) and have a low diagnostic sensitivity. Authors consider unsuitable the inclusion of PR, as an independent BD diagnostic criterion, in our country.

[Herpes simplex and herpes varicella-zoster. Cytological and ultrastructural study]. / Herpes simple y herpes zoster varicela. Estudio citológico y ultraestructural.

Nuclear staining qualities, and cell morphology depart from normal when epithelial cells are infected by herpes virus hominis and herpes varicella-zoster (1). The cytopathic changes produced by both viruses are similar and constant enough to be considered characteristic of the infection. Since the skin vesicles are readily accessible for examination, it is easy to scrape infected cells from the floor of the exposed blister and establish the diagnosis. The simplest and most common method would be by light microscopy utilizing conventional staining. When the circumstances warrant it and the facilities are available, the virus itself can be demonstrated by electron microscopy with material obtained in the same fashion. This paper deals with two cases in which the initial diagnosis of the disease was made by cytologic examination and the presence of virus subsequently verified by electron microscopy.