A new hope in the treatment of onychogryphosis due to acquired malalignment of great toenails due to: intramatrix dexpanthenol injection

Onychogryphosis is a form of nail deformity characterized by a distorted, yellowish-brown thickened nail plate that is skewed, grossly thickened, and partly curved like a ram's horn. Although onychogryphosis has been described for more than one hundred years, there is no curative treatment for onychogryphosis. Nonsurgical conservative procedures and nail avulsion with or without matricectomy are the common treatment procedures. The recurrence rate is high, so patients' needs are not met in many cases. Herein, we report for the first time the intramatrix injection of dexpanthenol in the treatment of onychogryphosis with excellent result.

Peripheral blood eosinophilia in association with generalized pustular and erythrodermic psoriasis

BACKGROUND

In recent studies, it has been documented that the eosinophil cells play active role in many kinds of inflammatory disorders. Measurements of the mediators released by eosinophils and cell counts in serum and skin have provided some evidence indicating the role of eosinophils in psoriasis.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the blood eosinophil cell count in patients with erythrodermic psoriasis and generalized pustular psoriasis.

METHODS

In this study, 48 patients with histopathologically proven psoriasis (33 with erythrodermic, 15 with generalized pustular); 43 patients with maculopapular, erythematous, or bullous drug eruption with widespread involvement; and 51 patients with basal cell carcinoma were included. These three groups were compared with each other in terms of their absolute eosinophil cell counts and percentage of eosinophils.

RESULTS

Forty-one point seven per cent of patients with psoriasis had peripheral blood eosinophilia compared with 58.1% of the patients with drug eruption and 11.8% of patients with basal cell carcinoma. The percentage of patients with eosinophilia both in patients suffering from psoriasis and drug eruption were significantly increased compared with the patients with basal cell carcinoma (P < 0.001). The absolute median eosinophil cell counts both in patients with psoriasis and drug eruption were also significantly differed from patients with basal cell carcinoma (259.2, 439.1 and 183.1, respectively; P < 0.001)

CONCLUSIONS

Peripheral blood eosinophilia seems to be associated with severe forms of psoriasis. This finding may suggest that the eosinophils have significant roles in the pathogenesis of these types of psoriasis.

Multiple giant molluscum contagiosum in a renal transplant recipient

Atypical presentations of molluscum contagiosum (MC) infection can be expected in renal transplant recipients, as a result of long-term immunosuppression. However, giant MC has rarely been reported in this population. We present a 28-year-old female renal transplant recipient receiving immunosuppressive therapy who developed multiple giant MC lesions on her axillary folds. The lesions were treated successfully with curettage and electrocauterization.