Content - Volume 87, Issue 4

Chronic itch is a common and distressing symptom that arises from a variety of skin conditions and systemic diseases. Despite this, there is no clinically based classification of pruritic diseases to assist in the diagnosis and cost-effective medical care of patients with pruritus. The proposed classification focuses on clinical signs and distinguishes between diseases with and without primary or ...

Pruritus is exacerbated at night in many systemic and dermatological diseases, resulting in reports of significantly diminished quality of life and sleep disturbances. At present, the underlying mechanisms responsible for night-time itching are not well understood. Nocturnal pruritus may be related to the circadian rhythm of itch mediators and possibly the disruption of such patterns. Diurnal chan ...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of selected neuropeptides on itching in psoriatic individuals. Fifty-nine patients (43 pruritic and 16 non-pruritic) with psoriasis were included in the study. The severity of psoriasis, measured using the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index scale, ranged between 2 and 43.7 points. The intensity of pruritus was evaluated using a Visual Analogue Sca ...

Bacterial stimulation plays an important role in modu­lating the allergic immune response. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of inactivated probiotic Lacto­bacillus acidophilus and non-pathogenic Escherichia coli strain Nissle on the phenotype and function of T- and B-cells. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with grass-pollen allergy (n = 10) and non-allergi ...

Fragrances are widely used in topical formulations and can cause photoallergic or phototoxic reactions. To identify phototoxic effects, 43 fragrances were evaluated in vitro with a photohaemolysis test using suspensions of human erythrocytes exposed to radiation sources rich in ultraviolet (UV) A or B in the presence of the test compounds. Haemolysis was measured by reading the absorbance values, ...

The aim of this study was to evaluate characteristic personality system interaction in patients with psoriasis, atopic dermatitis and urticaria. The differences between these three disease groups were examined with respect to various psychological variables and deviations from a group of healthy controls. A total of 56 patients with atopic dermatitis (n=21), psoriasis (n=20) and urticaria (n=15) w ...

Acne vulgaris does not always respond to conventional therapy. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been proposed as a treatment option. The aim of this study was to determine the optimal light dose for effective PDT treatment of acne and to investigate whether PDT reduces sebum excretion and the amount of Propionibacterium acnes. Fifteen patients (9 men, 6 women, age range 16–44 years, mean age 25 ye ...

The aim of this retrospective survey was to determine recurrence rates after treatment of basal cell carcinomas in a single academic dermatology department. A total of 1016 patients with 1593 histologically verified basal cell carcinomas (n=1212 primary and n=381 relapsing) were included. Tumour localization, T-stage and the method of treatment were significant predictors of the risk of recurrence ...

HLA-Cw6 is strongly associated with psoriasis and has been suggested to be the PSORS1 gene that confers susceptibility to early-onset psoriasis. In this study of the clinical features of HLA-Cw*0602-positive and -negative psoriasis patients in a Han Chinese population, we typed HLA-C in a cohort of 679 patients and compared the two groups. Cw*0602-positive patients (n=345) had an earlier disease o ...

"Functional itch disorder or psychogenic pruritus is a poorly defined diagnosis. This paper sets out the proposed diagnostic criteria of the French Psychodermatology Group (FPDG). There are three compulsory criteria: localized or generalized pruritus sine materia, chronic pruritus (>6 weeks) and the absence of a somatic cause. Three additional criteria from the following seven items should also be ...

The burdens of childhood eczema are many and some can be assessed with quality of life (QoL) questionnaires. Seventy-eight Swedish children with mild-to-severe eczema (“atopic dermatitis”, prurigo Besnier), fulfilling established diagnostic criteria, were investigated for the effect of eczema on QoL. This was measured with validated questionnaires: the Infants' Dermatitis Quality of Life Index ...

Vulvar vestibulitis is a major cause of entry dyspareunia in young women. The aim of this study was to evaluate a self-reported history of bacterial vaginosis, candidiasis, use of oral contraception and nulli-pregnancy as risk factors for vestibulitis. A retrospective examination of medical records was performed for 45 patients with vestibulitis from a vulvar clinic in Oslo, median age 24 years, a ...

"The relative importance of Haemophilus ducreyi and Treponema pallidum in genital ulcer disease in Africa has decreased recently, whereas that of herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 2 has increased. We analysed 301 lesional specimens from Tanzanian patients with genital ulcer disease for the presence of H. ducreyi, T. pallidum and HSV-1/HSV-2 by performing a separate PCR for each pathogen. Infectious ...