AbstractLoratadine is a long-acting, orally effective, second-generation histamine H1-receptor antagonist with proven efficacy in the treatment of chronic idiopathic urticaria. It has an excellent safety profile, and is free of undesirable side-effects such as sedation and dry mouth which often accompany the use of the classic antihistamines. In the present 28-day study, loratadine was compared with astemizole, another second-generation H1 antihistamine, for the treatment of chronic idiopathic urticaria in 110 patients (99 valid). Patients with moderate to severe pruritus and dermal lesions due to urticaria were randomly assigned to receive either loratadine (10 mg once daily) or astemizole (10 mg once daily). Both loratadine and astemizole were found to be effective in relieving the symptoms of urticaria for the duration of the study. Symptom scores were reduced by roughly 50% in both treatment groups. The efficacy of the two antihistamines was statistically comparable as determined by scoring of urticaria symptoms, therapeutic response, and global evaluation of anti-itching effect. Furthermore, the incidence of adverse events related to treatment was low and was statistically comparable between the two treatment groups. However, inasmuch as three astemizole patients experienced severe sedation, the safety profile favored loratadine.Key Words: LoratadineAstemizoleH1-receptor antagonistAntihistamineChronic idiopathic urticaria
ABSTRACT Seventy‐eight patients with tinea corporis or tinea cruris participated in a double‐blind study with either 100 mg itraconazole or 500 mg ultramicromized griseofulvin for 15 consicutive days. Clinical outcome was significantly in favor of itraconazole at completion of treatment (72% responce rate vs . 51%) and at the follow‐up visit(91% response vs . 64%). The most important difference berween both treatment was the mycologic outcome, for which itraconazole showed a cure rate oc 87% compared to 57% for griseofulvin 2 weeks after comparison of therapy. It is suggested that 100 mg of itraconazole orally daily is significantly more effective than 500 mg of griseofulvin once daily for 15 days in the treatment of glabrous skin infections. Both drugs were well tolerated.
We report a case of Sweet's syndrome in a patient in whom an acute myeloblastic leukemia was subsequently diagnosed. Approximately 10–20% of the reported cases of Sweet's syndrome occur in patients with a malignancy, the neoplastic condition most commonly reported being acute myelogenous leukemia. This case is of interest because of its unusual clinical presentation: the cutaneous lesions were accompanied by a massive swelling of the tongue. We suggest that this sudden macroglossia was caused by an infiltration of mature neutrophils, as seen in cutaneous lesions of Sweet's syndrome. There have been several reports recently of extracutaneous manifestations of Sweet's syndrome, and neutrophilic infiltrates have been found both in several internal organs and at mucosal locations.
