Olmsted syndrome.

Olmsted syndrome is a rare congenital, sharply circumscribed transgredient palmoplantar keratoderma. It was first described by Olmsted in 1927. The diagnosis of this rare disease depends on clinical features like symmetrical involvement of keratoderma of the palms and soles and the symmetrical hyperkeratotic plaques around the body orifices. It starts in the neonatal period or in childhood. The disease has a slow but progressive and extremely disabling course. Treatment of Olmsted syndrome is often based on topical therapy with retinoic acid, corticosteroid, emollients, and keratolytics. The present paper describes a case of Olmsted syndrome and its treatment.

Deficiency of the eighth component of complement associated with recurrent meningococcal meningitis--case report and literature review.

The authors report a case of deficiency of the eighth component of complement in a young adult with a history of three episodes of meningitis; one of them proved to be meningococcal. The literature was reviewed and meningitis due to Neisseria meningitidis strains causing disease in complement-deficient and complement-sufficient patients was demonstrated. Meningococcal disease may be the first manifestation of complement deficiency; screening for complement function must be considered for those with invasive meningococcal disease, with posterior evaluation of the components of the terminal pathway of complement.