The British journal of dermatology
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Forty subjects (36 with polymorphic light eruption and four with solar urticaria) were treated during the spring and early summer of the years 1982 to 1985 with either UVB phototherapy (a total of 54 treatment courses in subjects with polymorphic light eruption) or photochemotherapy (PUVA) (18 treatment courses in polymorphic light eruption and eight in solar urticaria patients). Both forms of prophylactic therapy were found to be effective in 90% of those with polymorphic light eruption, and PUVA in all those with solar urticaria. The optimum duration of treatment was 5 weeks. Adverse reactions, although common, were usually slight and rarely required alteration of the treatment regimen.
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The nosological position of actinic granuloma of O'Brien remains controversial. In this report a typical case is described and the features which distinguish the condition from other closely related granulomatous disorders are discussed. ⋯ Final diagnosis, however, is usually based upon the clinical features. Our case showed a successful therapeutic response to intralesional steroid.
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The medical records of 62 consecutive patients with bullous pemphigoid and 62 case-matched leg ulcer controls were examined to determine whether psoriasis and bullous pemphigoid are associated. Psoriasis occurred in seven of the pemphigoid patients (11%) but in none of the controls. The prevalence of psoriasis in the pemphigoid sample was significantly higher than expected (P less than 0.01, Poisson distribution). This difference, together with the clinical course, suggests that there may be an association between pemphigoid and psoriasis.
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Six desmoplastic trichoepitheliomas (DT) from four patients were studied immunohistochemically, using antibodies to the human PI fragment of laminin and the 7S domain of type IV collagen. The staining of the basement membrane around the tumour clusters was distinct and continuous in most areas, but there were discontinuities and a granular appearance of the basement membrane in the areas of keratinized cysts and calcification around some unorganized epithelial cell nests. The discontinuities of the basement membranes may be a sign of epithelial degeneration or altered differentiation rather than malignancy.
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Antibodies against the human basement membrane proteins, laminin and the 7-S domain of type IV collagen, were used to study the epidermal basement membrane in lesional skin from four patients with dermatitis herpetiformis. The staining pattern of both antigens was mostly fragmented and sometimes absent on papillary microabscesses, but when present it was attached to the epidermal basal cells. On papillary microblisters and larger blisters the staining of both antigens showed discontinuities and was located in the floor of the blister, except for two cases where tiny fragments of laminin staining were also seen in the roof of larger blisters. These results suggest that blister formation in dermatitis herpetiformis takes place between the epidermal basal cells and the basement membrane.