Acanthosis nigricans and a rectal carcinoid.

Malignant acanthosis nigricans is often related to adenocarcinomas of the gastrointestinal tract, but it has also been found to coexist with tumors of the amine precursor uptake and decarboxylation system. It can precede, accompany, or follow the appearance of the underlying tumor. Evaluation of our patient's new-onset acanthosis nigricans led to the discovery of an asymptomatic rectal carcinoid tumor. To our knowledge, this is the first report of acanthosis nigricans associated with a carcinoid tumor of the rectum. It emphasizes the importance of considering underlying malignancy in the evaluation of patients with acanthosis nigricans.

Superficial granulomatous pyoderma.

Superficial granulomatous pyoderma, recently described as a variant of pyoderma gangrenosum, would be better termed pathergic granulomatous cutaneous ulceration as the seven previously described cases, as well as our own two cases, have significant dermal involvement histologically and heal with scarring. In contrast to pyoderma gangrenosum, lesions of superficial granulomatous pyoderma respond to less toxic anti-inflammatory agents.

Autoimmune hemolytic anemia in a patient with mycosis fungoides.

We report a case of autoimmune hemolytic anemia in a patient with mycosis fungoides. We propose that autoimmune hemolytic anemia may be induced by cutaneous lymphoproliferative diseases. Thus, hemolysis should be considered as a mechanism of anemia in patients with mycosis fungoides.

Procainamide-induced urticarial vasculitis.

Dermatologists are often faced with the difficulty of evaluating drug reactions in patients receiving multiple medications. Unfortunately, few drugs produce distinctive lesions; many types of medications can produce identical eruptions. One common drug-induced eruption is urticaria. We report a specific eruption due to procainamide: urticarial vasculitis.