Psychosocial Aspects of Hair Loss

Hair loss (alopecia) is a common dermatological condition that affects men and women of all ages. It can be due to a wide variety of causes including scarring and non-scarring diseases. Although alopecia is not a life-threatening condition, it has significant psychological impact on the quality of life. Mental disorders such as anxiety, depression, social phobia, posttraumatic stress disorder, and suicidal thoughts are increased among alopecia patients. On the other hand, alopecia frequency increases during the course of psychological disorders. In this chapter, psychosocial aspects of hair loss and the relationship between alopecia and psychological disorders are reviewed

Contact Urticaria

The term “contact urticaria” was first used by Fisher in 1973 as a pruritic wheal and flare reaction appearing within minutes after the contact of the skin with the substance causing the reaction. The incidence is not clearly known due to misdiagnosis. The causative agents can be plants, food substances, drugs, cosmetic products, chemicals and animal products. Contact urticaria is classified according to the underlying mechanism as non-immunologic (irritant), immunologic (allergic) and mixed (undetermined). It is usually local but can rarely cause systemic symptoms and sometimes result in anaphylaxis. Diagnostic tests include the prick test, open test and RAST test. The main treatment step is avoiding the causative agent

Urticarial Syndromes

Urticaria is a common dermatological condition that can occur in acute and chronic forms. Common urticaria is generally easy to diagnose; however, urticarial syndromes should be considered in cases where lesions persist for greater than 24–36 h, the location of lesions has bilateral symmetry, urticarial lesions are accompanied by additional elementary lesions, and/or the patient presents with additional systemic symptoms. Additionally, urticarial syndromes should be considered for patients with typical urticarial lesions that do not respond to systemic antihistamine treatment. Hyperpigmentation or bruising can be observed following resolution of urticarial syndromes. Many cutaneous and systemic diseases can cause urticarial syndromes. Systemic causes of urticarial syndromes can affect multiple organ systems and may be accompanied by systemic symptoms such as fever, asthenia, and arthralgia. Clinicopathologic correlation is essential for the accurate diagnosis of urticarial syndromes. In this chapter, cutaneous and systemic etiologies of urticarial syndromes are reviewed

A New Approach to Blood Parameters in Dogs with Hemorrhagic Enteritis

Background: Some blood parameters have diagnostic and prognostic importance for the infections in human medicine. However, there is insufficient research regarding the importance of blood parameters and their correlations in veterinary medicine. Increased blood cell distribution width (RDW) and platelet activity can link with the important inflammatory markers. The main objective of the present study was the evaluation of the relationship among some important blood parameters namely RDW, platelet count (PLT), platelet distribution width (PDW), mean platelet volume (MPV), plateletcrit (PCT), their potential usage in the diagnosis and determination of the clinical severity in dogs with hemorrhagic enteritis.Materials, Methods & Results: In this study, the case records of 29 dogs with hemorrhagic enteritis were evaluated and the records of 10 healthy dogs were used as controls. The animals of the study group were presented at the Ondokuz Mayis University, Veterinary Internal Medicine Clinic. The complete blood count (CBC), which includes the total WBC, RBC, hematocrit (HCT), hemoglobin concentration (Hgb), MCV, mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), RDW, PLT, MPV, PCT, and PDW, was determined. Significant positive correlations between RDW and RBC, HCT, MCHC, PLT and PDW, and a negative correlation with MCV, were determined. PDW was positively correlated with the lymphocyte count, MCHC and RDW, and negatively correlated with PCT. PLT was negatively correlated with MCV and MPV and positively correlated with RBC and RDW. In addition, MPV was positively correlated with MCV and MCH, and negatively correlated with PLT. Furthermore, there were significant differences between the granulocyte, WBC, HCT, RDW and PDW values (P < 0.001) and monocyte count, Hgb and MCV (P < 0.05), of the study and control groups.Discussion: Acute hemorrhagic enteritis has various causes in dogs such as idiopathic hemorrhagic gastroenteritis and a number of viral, bacterial and parasitic agents. Hematological and biochemical parameters are not specific to enteric diseases, but these paremeters can provide clinically helpful information for differential diagnosis, response to treatment, and prognosis. In this frame, the evaluation of MCV and RDW in combination, and the determination of the mean red cell size and the extent of heterogeneity of the red cell population, can be especially useful to the diagnosis of different red blood cell disorders. In the present study, differences in RDW and MCV values were statistically significant between the study and control groups (P < 0.05). Increased RDW and decreased MCV can be good indicators of hemorragic diseases and in the present study, in addition to these findings, decreased Hgb and Hct confirmed anemia in dogs with hemorrhagic enteritis. The other key findings of this study were statistically significant relationships between RDW, PLT and PDW, which could be important indicators of inflammation in dogs with hemorrhagic enteritis. These parameters should be evaluated carefully in clinical cases of hemorrhagic enteritis. However, due to nature of retrospective studies, there were some limitations (the lack of another control group of dogs suffering from other hemorrhagic diseases) lack of serial measurements of the blood parameters and further studies should be carried out on dogs with hemorrhagic enteritis for a more detailed evaluation and confirmation of the findings of this study

Angioedema-like allergic contact dermatitis related to black henna

Allergic contact dermatitis related to para-phenylendiamine (PPD) from temporary black henna tattoos and hair dyes has become an epidemic in recent years. Several cases of adverse skin reactions to PPD have been reported in the literature. Herein, we present a case of angioedema-like allergic contact dermatitis related to hair coloring with henna

Angioedema-like allergic contact dermatitis related to black henna

Allergic contact dermatitis related to para-phenylendiamine (PPD) from temporary black henna tattoos and hair dyes has become an epidemic in recent years. Several cases of adverse skin reactions to PPD have been reported in the literature. Herein, we present a case of angioedema-like allergic contact dermatitis related to hair coloring with henna

Psoriasis and Hashimoto's thyroiditis in a child with down syndrome

Down syndrome (DS), or trisomy 21, is the most common chromosomal disorder. DS has been associated with autoimmune diseases including autoimmune thyroiditis, Type 1 diabetes mellitus, celiac disease, autoimmune chronic active hepatitis, alopecia, vitiligo, hypoparathyroidism, psoriasis, and psoriatic arthritis. To our knowledge, we herein report the first concurrence of psoriasis and Hashimoto's thyroiditis in an individual with DS, emphasizing the predisposition of DS individuals to autoimmune diseases

Trichofolliculoma: a rare variant of hair follicle hamartoma

Trichofolliculoma is a rare hair follicle hamartoma, which is often regarded as a hair follicle tumor. Mostly, it presents as a papule or nodule, involving the skin of the face and scalp area. A central, dilated keratin plugged ostium with vellus hair(s) is often present. We report a 19-year-old woman with typical clinical and histopathological findings of trichofolliculoma

Trichofolliculoma: a rare variant of hair follicle hamartoma

Trichofolliculoma is a rare hair follicle hamartoma, which is often regarded as a hair follicle tumor. Mostly, it presents as a papule or nodule, involving the skin of the face and scalp area. A central, dilated keratin plugged ostium with vellus hair(s) is often present. We report a 19-year-old woman with typical clinical and histopathological findings of trichofolliculoma

Decreased Vitamin B-12 and Folic Acid Concentrations in Acne Patients After Isotretinoin Therapy: A Controlled Study

WOS: 000209782400045Background: Oral isotretinoin treatment might influence the levels of vitamin B-12 and folic acid. Aims and Objectives: The aim of this study is to compare vitamin B-12 and folic acid levels in patients with moderate and severe acne vulgaris with those of the healthy control group and to investigate the effect of isotretinoin treatment on these vitamins. Materials and Methods: Patients who completed 6 months of isotretinoin therapy for moderate and severe forms of acne vulgaris and a control group consisting of healthy individuals between February 2011 and March 2012 were included in the study. Before isotretinoin therapy and at 6.- months of the therapy, serum vitamin B-12 and folic acid levels were measured. In the healthy control group, vitamin B-12 and folic acid levels were assessed only once. Results: In total, 120 patients with moderate and severe acne vulgaris who completed 6 months isotretinoin therapy and 100 healthy individuals who constituted the control group were included in the study. Pre-treatment vitamin B-12 values of the patient group were found to be statistically significantly higher (P = 0.002), but any statistically significant difference was not detected in folic acid measurements (P = 0.566). A statistically significant decrease was detected in post-treatment vitamin B-12 and folic acid levels (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Vitamin B-12/folic acid treatment should be given under medical surveillance before and during isotretinoin therapy. Supplementation of these vitamins should be recommended in cases of their deficiency, so as to decrease the risks of neuropsychiatric and occlusive vascular diseases