Dermatitis Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Dermatitis, including details on contact-, seborrheic-, atopic-, allergic-dermatitis, treatment.

Autoimmune progesterone dermatitis. Case report with histologic overlap of erythema multiforme and urticaria.

Walling HW, Scupham RK

Private Practice of Dermatology and Iowa Pathology Associates, Des Moines, Iowa, USA. hobartwalling@yahoo.com

BACKGROUND: Autoimmune progesterone dermatitis is a rare eruption that recurs monthly as progesterone levels peak during the menstrual cycle. Clinical and histologic features are variable, and the eruption is thought to represent a hypersensitivity response to endogenous progesterone. METHODS: We present the case of a 38-year-old woman with a pruritic intermittent facial eruption of 18 months' duration that recurred predictably in the days surrounding menses. RESULTS: The histology showed interface dermatitis with features of both erythema multiforme and urticaria. Intradermal injection of medroxyprogesterone acetate was positive. Her symptoms responded to antihistamine therapy. CONCLUSION: This unusual case is particularly distinctive both in terms of the histologic findings and the response to therapy.

Published 1 April 2008 in Int J Dermatol, 47(4): 380-2.
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Articles on Dermatitis published 24 March 2008:

Erythema nodosum in association with newly diagnosed hairy cell leukemia and group C streptococcus infection.   Am J Dermatopathol, 30(2): 160-2.

Erythema nodosum is an inflammatory reaction of the skin characterized by tender erythematous patches or nodules, usually located on the lower extremities. This report illustrates an association of erythema nodosum with a rare malignancy and an uncommon infectious agent in humans. There are many diseases associated with erythema nodosum; we propose that hairy cell leukemia and group C streptococcus be considered among this list. [Abstract] [Full-text]

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Nevus depigmentosus is a congenital disorder characterized by a nonprogressive hypopigmented lesion, which may not be apparent at birth. Thus, it is sometimes difficult to differentiate vitiligo from nevus depigmentosus only by clinical features. We postulated that the histologic changes in lesional and perilesional skin might be different in the 2 conditions. We took biopsies from both lesional and perilesional skin of 100 cases of vitiligo to assess the number of melanocytes, the amount of ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Dermatitis published 20 March 2008:

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Heracleum plants occur in numerous species worldwide and may cause phototoxic reactions due to its content of various furocoumarins. In this case report, a widespread photoallergic contact dermatitis after exposure to Heracleum giganteum (giant bear claw) is described. A photopatch test with extracts from the stem, leaves and seeds of the giant bear claw revealed a positive papulovesicular reaction that already appeared at 24 h and peaked at 72 h after irradiation with 5 J/cm(2) UVA. The ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Dermatitis published 19 March 2008:

Granuloma annulare induced by anti-tumour necrosis factor therapy.   Ann Rheum Dis, 67(4): 567-70.

OBJECTIVE: To describe granuloma annulare (GA) skin lesion development in patients during anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF) therapy. METHODS: 199 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and 127 suffering from spondyloarthropathies treated with anti-TNF antagonists were analysed to identify skin lesions suggesting GA. RESULTS: Nine cases of GA during anti-TNF therapy (123 treated with infliximab, 57 with adalimumab and 17 with etanercept) for rheumatoid arthritis were identified. Two have been ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

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T-cell clonality assays: how do they compare?   J Invest Dermatol, 128(4): 771-3.

The distinction between certain benign cutaneous lymphocytic infiltrates and cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) can be a challenging problem in clinical practice. An imperfect but useful tool in this circumstance is the analysis of T-cell clonality or monoclonality by assessing T-cell receptor (TCR) gene rearrangements. "Monoclonality" describes the origin of a specific human malignant tumor from one single cell from which the entire tumor is derived. The term is used to describe the ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

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Allergic contact dermatitis is commonly associated with exposure to p-phenylenediamine. The aim of this study was to determine whether p-phenylenediamine (PPD) and/or Bandrowski's base (BB) stimulate T cells from allergic patients and volunteers, and to explore the relationship between T-cell immunogenicity and allergy. Lymphocytes from allergic patients proliferated with PPD and BB (n=8). Lymphocytes from 14/16 non-allergic individuals also proliferated following stimulation, but only with BB; ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Dermatitis published 12 March 2008:

The cutaneous manifestations of atypical complete DiGeorge syndrome: a histopathologic and immunohistochemical study.   J Cutan Pathol, 35(4): 380-5.

DiGeorge syndrome is a congenital anomaly with a constellation of findings that includes thymic hypoplasia. Only a small subset of patients with DiGeorge syndrome has complete athymia, classified as complete DiGeorge anomaly; one third of these patients show an eczematous dermatitis, oligoclonal T-cells and lymphadenopathy, known as atypical complete DiGeorge anomaly. Six biopsies from six patients with the distinctive clinical phenotype of atypical complete DiGeorge anomaly were studied. Every ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

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