Exfoliative dermatitis: patterns of clinical presentation in a tropical rural and suburban dermatology practice in Nigeria

Exfoliative Dermatitis as a Para-neoplastic Syndrome of Prostate Adenocarcinoma: A Rare Case Report With Literature Review

BACKGROUND/AIM

This study aimed to report a rare case of erythroderma or exfoliative dermatitis as a paraneoplastic syndrome of prostate adenocarcinoma. Exfoliative dermatitis is a rare inflammatory skin condition that is characterized by desquamation and erythema involving more than 90% of the body surface area. It is a clinical manifestation and usually associated with various underlying cutaneous disorders, drug induced reactions and malignancies.

CASE REPORT

Herein we report a case of 55-year-old male patient who presented with progressively diffuse scaling and erythematous rash of 3 months duration. He was diagnosed with untreated prostate adenocarcinoma about 2 months prior his admission. Skin biopsy confirmed exfoliative erythroderma diagnosis. He was investigated extensively for other pathologies, however all work up remained negative except a CT finding of large heterogeneous prostate gland with elevated PSA which was consistent with prostate cancer. Daily oral prednisone for one week and hydrocortisone cream provided partial clinical improvement. The patient was discharged on tapering steroid to follow-up with urology and oncology for further underlying prostate carcinoma management.

CONCLUSION

We concluded that the ongoing erythroderma was a paraneoplastic syndrome of prostate adenocarcinoma. Hence, early detailed history and routine screening of malignancy-related biomarkers is warranted on any individuals presenting with such symptoms.

Clinical analysis of 84 cases of erythrodermic psoriasis and 121 cases of other types of erythroderma from 2010-2015

Erythroderma with complicated etiology is one of the severe skin diseases and has high mortality, of which the incidence was 0.5‰-1.5‰ in skin diseases. Erythrodermic psoriasis (EP) is the commonest type of erythroderma. In addition, there are drug-induced erythroderma, erythroderma secondary to preexisting dermatoses, malignancy-related erythroderma, and idiopathic erythroderma of unknown etiology. Erythroderma of different etiologies has various clinical manifestations, resulting in relevant curative effects and outcomes. In this article, we retrospectively investigated 205 erythroderma patients about clinical symptoms, auxiliary examination and treatments, and evaluated the efficacy and prognosis. There were 84 cases of EP among 205 patients, 10 cases of erythroderma caused by specific drugs, 77 cases of erythroderma secondary to preexisting dermatoses (excluding psoriasis), 7 cases of erythroderma patients suffering from malignancy and 27 cases with unknown causes. We concluded that the etiology of male patients in different age groups had significant difference. The incidence of EP was the highest among all types. The EP was commonly accompanied with hypoproteinemia, and changed into psoriasis vulgaris after treatment. Drug-induced erythroderma was commonly accompanied with fever, and mostly cured by systematic steroid therapy. For erythroderma secondary to preexisting dermatoses, the original dermatoses must be actively treated to achieve a satisfying prognosis. Erythroderma with malignancy or unknown causes had long-term duration, poor response to the treatment, and high potential to relapse. Therefore, clarifying the etiology, providing an appropiate and individual regimen, and regular follow-up are crucial for the successful treatment of erythroderma with unknown causes.

Clinical presentations of severe cutaneous drug reactions in HIV-infected Africans

Sub-Saharan Africa is the epicenter of the HIV pandemic and HIV-infected people are more susceptible to inflammatory dermatoses, infections, and drug eruptions. Many of the drugs used for HIV-associated opportunistic infections are associated with a higher incidence of drug-related toxicities and drug interactions. This article discusses the epidemiology, pharmacogenetics, and clinical features of idiosyncratic drug reactions in HIV-infected Africans. Special considerations in this population, including immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome, multiple drug hypersensitivity syndrome, drug reactions in pregnancy, drug rechallenge in lichenoid drug eruptions, and anxiety/depression after cutaneous adverse drug reactions, are also briefly discussed.