An 80-year-old man with long-standing rheumatoid arthritis presented with severe neck pain. No preceding trauma had occurred and he had no neurological complaints. A CT scan revealed vertical atlanto-axial subluxation without compression of the medulla oblongata. After conservative treatment the pain diminished. There were no neurological complications at follow-up.
A 9-year-old girl visited the department of Dermatology with an asymptomatic hypopigmented skin eruption on her upper legs, groins and trunk since 7 years. Histopathological analysis established the diagnosis of hypopigmented mycosis fungoides, a rare subtype of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma which is most commonly seen at younger age. The lesions are successfully treated with clobetasol 0.05% ointment 4 days a week.
Background/Aim: Previous studies showed that renal hemodynamic parameters, especially the filtration fraction (FF), are decreased in patients with active lupus nephritis (LN). In th
Hepatitis B virus-DNA was detected by polymerase chain reaction in 9 out of 10 patients after orthotopic liver transplantation. Three of these patients were at the same time positive for hepatitis B virus-DNA by dot-blot hybridization (hepatitis B virus-DNA > 1.5 pg/ml). In these three patients HBs-antigen (HBsAg) reappeared within a mean time of 12 weeks after orthotopic liver transplantation (range 7-18 weeks). Only two of the six polymerase chain reaction-positive and dot-blot-negative patients (hepatitis B virus-DNA between 0.4 fg/ml and 1.5 pg/ml) had recurrence of HBsAg within a mean time of 54 weeks (range 52-56 weeks). Passive immunoprophylaxis with anti-HBs antibodies (serum titers > 100 IU/l) did not prevent infection of the graft in the five reinfected patients. We conclude that a low concentration of serum hepatitis B virus-DNA after orthotopic liver transplantation, which is detectable only by polymerase chain reaction, indicates a delayed infection of the graft.
CCR5 and its ligands play important roles in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). A deletion of 32 bp in its gene leads to the production of a non-functional receptor. Although a protective effect of CCR5 Δ32 for the development of RA has been suggested, future study is required to establish the exact role of this deletion for susceptibility to SLE and lupus nephritis. Also, with regard to the association of CCR5 Δ32 with disease severity in RA and SLE, more data are needed to draw firm conclusions. This might become even more relevant as a CCR5 blocking agent is now available.
Objectives: The association of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with the human leucocyte antigen (HLA) region is well known. In this study, we analysed the involvement of the HLA region in susceptibility for SLE in a stable founder, Caucasian population of SLE patients.Methods: We performed an extensive screen of the entire HLA region on 103 SLE patients and family‐based controls. Both single locus association analysis and haplotype sharing analysis were performed. The Additional Disease Locus Test (ADLT) was applied to examine the nature of the observed associations and to distinguish true causal associations from associations due to linkage disequilibrium (LD).Results: Significant associations were observed at markers in the HLA class I, class II, and class III regions using both haplotype sharing and single locus methods. The haplotype sharing methods revealed the most significant difference at marker D6S1666 in the HLA class II region (pHSS = 0.00037, pCROSS = 1.7 × 10−5). The most significant result for single locus association was shown at marker D6S265 in the HLA class I region (p = 0.00019). The ADLT demonstrated that these markers represent independent associations.Conclusion: HLA class I, class II, and class III are associated with SLE, but only class I and class II contribute independently to increased risk of SLE.
A 50-year old woman with hyperkeratotic verrucous papules and plaques visited the outpatient clinic of Dermatology. Histopathology showed hyperplasia of verrucous epithelia, orthokeratosis and an infiltrate, leading to the diagnosis 'verrucous (hypertrophic) lichen planus'. This skin condition is often misdiagnosed as psoriasis. Squamous cell carcinoma can develop within skin lesions.
