Journal of Dermatology and Dermatologic Diseases

Introduction: Vitiligo is a chronic acquired disorder presenting with depigmented macules and patches. The response to treatment is variable as no single therapy produces predictably good results. Needling with topical 5% 5 fluorouracil in vitiligo has been found to be promising, effective and safe modality of treatment. Materials and methods: Three patients with stable vitiligo were on medical treatment and phototherapy for two to three years. All the patients were not satisfied in terms of repigmentation. They were subjected to needling with topical 5% 5 fluorouracil application every 2 weeks for three months, along with their ongoing therapy. Results: All the patients showed >75% improvement in terms of repigmentation of the achromic patches. Conclusion: This method of needling with application of 5 fluorouracil cream is simple, safe and cost effective method for treating patients with stable vitiligo.

Background: Congenital melanocytic naevi (CMN) are present at birth or they develop during the first year of life. In the literature, there is no study prospectively determining the prevalence and dermoscopic patterns of CMN among 0-12 months old infants. There is no data about its frequency in Turkish population. Dermoscopic diagnostic criteria for CMN are not clear. Aim: The aim of this study is to determine the frequency of CMN in our region and to define their dermoscopic properties. Methods: 4289 consecutive infants aged between 0 and 12 months, admitted to pediatric outpatient clinics of Akdeniz University Hospital were included in this study. Infants were first examined by a pediatrician and those with naevi were consulted to a dermatologist. Lesions of CMN were evaluated with camerated dermatoscopy device and images were recorded to a computer. Results: CMN were detected in 0,5% (n:20) of cases. Lower extremity was the most common location (60%), followed by scalp (15%), trunk (10%), upper extremity (10%) and more than one location (5%). Naevi diameter was 1.5-20 cm in 11 cases, smaller than 1,5cm in seven cases and greater than 20cm in two cases. In dermoscopic examination dot structure (n:18) and globular pattern (n:15) were mostly observed. Other findings included multifocal hypopigmentation pattern (n:6), reticular pattern (n:4), homogeneous pattern (n:4), cobblestone pattern (n:2), and parallel furrow pattern (n:1). Conclusion: This is the first prospective study to determine the prevalence and dermoscopic patterns of CMN among 0-12 months old infants admitted to a pediatric outpatient clinic. The frequency of CMN in our region is similar with some of the previous studies. Our Dermoscopic results support that CMN appearing in younger ages is more often characterized by a globular pattern and dot structure.

A Disintegrin-like and Metalloprotease domain containing Thrombospondin type 1 motif-like 5 (ADAMTSL5) is a melanocyte-derived protein that has recently been implicated as an activating antigen for IL-17-producing T cells in psoriasis. There is a potential disconnect between the basal location of the melanocytes in the epidermis and the fact that T-cell infiltrates are seen mostly scattered in the epidermis with very large infiltrates in the dermis. Thus, we hypothesized that ADAMTSL5 may be expressed in other cells aside from melanocytes in skin. To further investigate the cutaneous expression of ADAMTSL5, we performed immunohistochemistry staining on lesional and nonlesional skin biopsies from psoriasis patients using three different commercially available antibodies. We confirmed that all ADAMTSL5 antibodies reacted with epidermal melanocytes. However, we also observed a strong expression of this protein in keratinocytes throughout the epidermis, and scattered expression in some dermal blood vessels and other perivascular dermal cells. Overall, the pattern of ADAMTSL5 expression is very similar to the infiltrating pattern of Tcells and dendritic cells in psoriasis lesions.

Psoriasis is a chronic, relapsing dermatose characterized by erythematous scaly plaques. Histopathological signs parakeratosis, losing of granular layer, acanthosis, papillomatosis, microabscess, capillary proliferation, excessive mitosis up to 50 fold. Differential diagnosis of psoriasis should be done with all bacterial-viral diseases, tumors, precancerous lesions, mycosis fungoides, subacute lupus erythematosus, allergic and atopic dermatitis, lichen planus, tinea pedis. In the differential diagnosis of psoriasis, Vulgaris should be thinking generally five dermatological diseases. 1. Nummular eczema, 2. MF, 3. Pityriasis rubra pilaris, 4. Duhring’s disease (dermatitis herpetiformis), 5. Bowen’s disease. In this review will be discussed clues of differential diagnosis of psoriasis.

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) enters into the host and makes a disease. HSV-1 can infect many types of cells but epidermis is a target in which keratinocytes are the main attacked cells. Melanocytes are important components of the epidermis and have a close relationship with keratinocytes. Many studies are on “the effects of HSV-1 on keratinocytes”; less is known about the effects of HSV-1 on melanocytes. In this study, we treated murine Melan-A cell line with HSV-1 in vitro and draw a conclusion that HSV-1 can infect melanocytes and induce melanocytes apoptosis for the first time.

Blunt-tip cannulas have been developed for the use with dermal fillers. They can help to improve the way dermal fillers are injected as they do –generally spoken- enable for a less traumatic injection of the material as well as a very aesthetically appealing result. There is a lot of discussion on whether to use a blunt tip cannula or a hypodermic needle generally. Obviously, there is no one way to inject fillers: any injection equipment –and this does relate to cannulas and needles, too- should be used individually and in an indication-specific way. The objective of this article is to give some guidelines on why and how the use of cannulas does make sense.