Erythroderma: Epidemiology, Clinical Profile and Clinicopathological Correlation in 47 Patients

Erythroderma, or generalized exfoliative dermatitis, is a disease characterized by erythema and scaling of greaterthan 90% of the body’s surface. There is paucity of Indian studies over the etiology, clinical profile and its histopathologicalcorrelation. Aims and objectives: To assess the demographic profile, clinical features and histopathological correlation inerythroderma patients. Material and methods: We registered all patients of erythroderma consecutively from January 2013 toDecember 2013. After a thorough history and clinical examination, a provisional clinical diagnosis was made. We performedbiopsy from two representative sites of patient and it was sent for histopathological examination. The slides were examined bytwo pathologists and one dermatologist without any relevant clinical information. The clinical diagnosis was matched with theblinded microscopical diagnosis. Results: The mean age of onset was 54.1 years with a male-to-female ratio of 3.3:1. The mostcommon causes were airborne contact dermatitis (53.2%) followed by psoriasis (21.2%), drug-induced erythroderma (12.7%),chronic actinic dermatitis (2.1%), atopic dermatitis (2.1%), endogenous dermatitis (2.1%), mycosis fungoides (2.1%), lichenoiddermatitis (2.1%) and idiopathic (2.1%). Histopathology was able to provide diagnosis in 32 (68%) patients. Out of these32 patients, microscopical diagnosis was in accordance with clinical diagnosis in 28 patients. Conclusion: Most of the clinicalfeatures of erythroderma are overlapping. Specific and diagnostic features of disease are seen only in a few patients. Repeatedevaluations, close follow-up and skin biopsy are recommended for a better clinical diagnosis and patient care

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Association Between Statin Therapy and Diabetes Risk

Worldwide, statins are the most commonly used drugs to prevent adverse cardiovascular events. The US Food and DrugAdministration (US FDA), in 2012, revised statin drug labels to include information that statins increase fasting serum glucoseand glycated hemoglobin levels as they show adverse effects on glucose control among diabetic patients. Statins affect glucosecontrol through several mechanisms, by affecting insulin production and secretion by β-pancreatic cells, insulin resistance,insulin uptake by the muscles and adipocytes and production of adipokines. Data from many randomized controlled trialsand observational studies indicate increased risk for the emergence of new-onset diabetes after statin initiation. High-dosestatins appear to be more effective in established cardiovascular disease, but at the expense of increased drug side effects.Many studies done on patients with cardiovascular risk factors have shown that statins have diabetogenic potential and theeffect varies as per the dosage and type of statin used. Research in this area needs to be explored more. Physicians might stilltake some precautions to make risk-benefit ratio more favorable for the patients. The objective of this review is to evaluatethe mechanism, evidence from various clinical trials and precautions before start of statin therapy. This review is based onpublished journal articles obtained through MEDLINE full text, PubMed, Science Direct, Pro Quest, SAGE, Google Scholarand Elsevier Clinical Key

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Pseudo-Ventricular Tachycardia in Parkinson’s Disease

We report herein a patient with Parkinson’s disease whose electrocardiogram mimicked ventricular tachycardia due toParkinson’s tremors

How Important a Risk Factor is Systolic Blood Pressure?

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