Mucormycosis of the scalp is a rare cutaneous presentation of the disease. It is also an unusual infection in children. We present the case of a 4-year-old girl with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, who presented with atypical cutaneous mucormycosis simulating an ecthyma gangrenosum lesion. Risk factors for the infection are diabetes, neoplastic diseases, immunosuppression in organ transplant recipients, and neutropenia. The cutaneos forms have been associated with trauma, burns and surgical wounds. First line treatment is amphotericin B. Posaconazole was recently approved to treat invasive mucormycosis. Surgical removal of the infected tissue is indicated.

Facial hypermelanosis is a significant cause of cosmetic disfigurement, social embarrassment and psychological morbidity affecting quality of life. To study clinicoepidemlogic patterns of facial hypermelanoses among men. Medical records of all adult males presenting with facial hypermelanoses were analyzed for this retrospective cross sectional study for demographic details, duration, cosmetic usage, sun exposure, drug intake, infections, systemic or cutaneous diseases, and family history of hypermelanotic dermatosis. Laboratory investigations and skin biopsy were performed when deemed necessary. These were 300 Indian men aged 18 to 74 (mean 37.35) years with 121 (40.3%) individuals aged 31-50 years. Various patterns of melasma in 230 (76.7%) patients were the major cause of facial hypermelanosis. Periorbital hypermelanosis was observed in 32 (10.7%), freckles and lentigens in 26 (8.7%), acanthosis nigricans in 12 (4%) and lichen planus pigmentosus in 10 (3.3%), pigmented cosmetic contact dermatitis in 7, and nevus of Ota in 6 persons. The 71 (30.8%) patients with melasma had a history of frequent sun exposure, 9 (3.9%) patients had systemic comorbidities. Family history of periorbital melanosis was present in 7 (21.8%), personal or family history of atopy in 5 (15.6%) patients. Acanthosis nigricans was associated with obesity in 9 (75%) of patients and with diabetes mellitus in 4 (33.3%) cases. Melasma, periorbital hypermelanosis, acanthosis nigricans and lichen planus pigmentosus remain the predominant causes for facial hypermelanosis in men.

Mucormycosis of the scalp is a rare cutaneous presentation of the disease. It is also an unusual infection in children. We present the case of a 4-year-old girl with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, who presented with atypical cutaneous mucormycosis simulating an ecthyma gangrenosum lesion. Risk factors for the infection are diabetes, neoplastic diseases, immunosuppression in organ transplant recipients, and neutropenia. The cutaneos forms have been associated with trauma, burns and surgical wounds. First line treatment is amphotericin B. Posaconazole was recently approved to treat invasive mucormycosis. Surgical removal of the infected tissue is indicated. ( J Dermatol Case Rep . 2017; 11(2): 32-34)

Apremilast is a new immunomodulatory drug, a small molecule inhibitor of PDE4, which down-regulates the expression of multiple pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin 17, interleukin 23. We describe a case of a 54-year-old man with erythroderma in the course of psoriasis (PASI=49), with contraindications to other psoriasis therapies, in whom total clearance of skin lesions was achieved by day 20 after therapy with apremilast at a dose of 30 mg bid (ΔPASI = 100). The patient had a history of prior use of cyclosporine, methotrexate and adalimumab. His comorbidities included obesity, fatty liver and hypercholesterolemia. In this case of erythroderma in the course of psoriasis apremilast led to total clearance of all cutaneous lesions.

Necrotizing vasculitides are basically characterized by vessel wall neutrophil infiltration and necrosis and they can occur as a primary process or secondary to an underlying disease. Although Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSp) is the more frequent primary vasculitis in childhood, sometimes it has to be distinguished from other secondary vasculitides induced by infections, drugs, vaccines, or immune-mediated disorders. We report a case of a 14-year-old girl with cutaneous necrotizing vasculitis, appearing in the course of acute Epstein-Barr virus infection. Physical examination revealed highly aching erythematous-purple lesions with reticular edges localized on the back of feet. Pain was non-responsive to ibuprofen and required administration of tapentadol and pregabalin. The patient was also heterozygous for factor V Leiden that might have contributed to the development of cutaneous painful lesions. To our knowledge this is the first documented pediatric case of necrotizing vasculitis associated with acute EBV infection in a girl heterozygous for factor V Leiden. In this patient the severity of skin manifestations might have been influenced by the concomitant factor V Leiden, which gave rise to hypercoagulability and occlusive vasculopathy with markedly severe pain, a symptom rather infrequent in other childhood vasculitides.

Topical corticosteroids have become available as over the counter drugs and are widely misused for various conditions. The aim of this study is to assess the clinical and epidemiological aspects of the unjustified use of topical corticosteroids for facial skin. A total of 200 patients with facial dermatoses and topical corticosteroid misapplication daily over face for not less than 30 days were included in the study. This was a prospective study conducted in a tertiary care dermatology outpatient centre of the Jammu region. A detailed clinical history regarding topical corticosteroid use was taken and adverse effects analysed. A total of 166 patients were women and 34 were men. The predominant age was 31-40 years. A total of 170 patients (85%) were in the age group of 21-50 years. Duration of application was over 1 month up to 3 years, daily. Betamethasone or clobetasol ointments were used in 75 patients (37.5%) and momatasone was used in 15 patients (7.5%). Indication for using steroids were: general / cosmetic purposes (72 patients; 36.0%), acne (59; 29.5%), hyperpigmentation (41; 20.5%), tinea (6; 3%), undiagnosed dermatoses (28; 14.0%). The use of corticosteroids was attributed to the advice of pharmacists (69; 34.5%), friends and relatives (61; 30.5%), cosmetologists (22; 11.0%), non-dermatology physicians (30; 15.0%) and dermatologists (18; 9%). Adverse effects included acneiform lesions, telengiectasias, dyspigmentation, hypertrichosis, perioral dermatitis and tinea incognito. A total of 89 (44.5%) patients fulfilled the criteria of "topical steroid dependent face". These patients reported erythema, burning and itching on stopping the application of topical corticosteroids. In most cases the use prolonged use of topical corticosteroids on facial skin was recommended by non-professional persons. The adverse events ranged from transient to permanent. The results of this study underline the indispensable role of dermatology specialists in diagnosing and treating cutaneous disorders.

Bullous lichen planus is a rare variant of lichen planus. It is characterized by vesicles or bullae, which usually develop in the context of pre-existing LP lesions. It is often misdiagnosed and should be differentiated from other subepidermal bullous diseases especially lichen planus pemphigoides. The diagnosis is based on clinical suspicion and is confirmed by histopathology and immunofluoresence. The clinical features of bullous lichen planus include typical lichen planus lesions, accompanied by the formation of bullae on the affected or perilesional skin. This is evident on histology, with alteration of the dermo-epidermal junction and intrabasal bullae as a consequence of extensive inflammation. The histologic features in conjunction with the negative immunofluoresence indicate that bullous lichen planus is a form of "hyper-reactive lichen planus" rather than a distinct entity. There is no standard treatment of bullous lichen planus. Topical and systemic corticosteroids, dapsone and acitretin have been described as effective choices.

Oral lichen planus is a chronic inflammatory disease of unknown etiology. It is characterized by notable heterogeneity in clinical presentation and behavior. We describe 3 patients with lichenoid lesions of the upper lip and upper anterior gingiva. These cases probably represent a clinical subtype of lichenoid lesions associated with microbial antigenicity and are characterized by persistency. All three patients had a long history of previous ineffective treatments and all three showed an excellent response to a combination of clarithromycin (2 x 250 mg/day) and prednisolone (15 mg/day). The combination of clarithromycin and prednisolone may be considered as an alternative intervention in patients with lichenoid lesions of the upper lip and upper anterior gingiva.

Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome (BHDS) is a rare autosomal dominant genodermatosis characterized by cutaneous fibrofolliculomas and/or trichodiscomas, lung cysts, spontaneous pneumothorax and renal tumors. However, its clinical expression is highly variable. This syndrome is caused by germline mutations in the folliculin gene (FLCN) on chromosome 17p11.2. Two men, 60 and 39-year-old, presented with a several year history of asymptomatic whitish papules scattered over the face and neck. Skin biopsies revealed fibrofolliculomas. The clinical diagnosis of BHDS was corroborated by identification of new heterozygotic mutations in FLCN gene, in exon 6 (C.573_574delinsT) and in exon 9 (c.1015C>T), respectively. Computed tomography scan of the thorax and abdomen showed pulmonary cysts with no suspicious kidneys lesions, and, in the case of the second patient, a mass in left adrenal gland. Laparoscopic left adrenalectomy was performed and histopathological examination was compatible with a malignant perivascular epithelioid cell tumor. The presence of multiple fibrofolliculomas should raise the suspicion of BHDS. Patients with this syndrome, regardless of the detected mutation, should be carefully monitored to ensure that potentially serious disease-related conditions can be detected early.