Introduction Vasculitides are a heterogeneous group of diseases characterized by inflammation of the blood vessel walls. Etiological factors include infections, drugs, connective tissue diseases, and malignancies. Aim To examine the demographic characteristics, etiological factors, and treatment options in 75 patients with leukocytoclastic vasculitis. Material and methods The study included 75 patients diagnosed with leukocytoclastic vasculitis at our clinic. The patients’ medical records were reviewed to determine their age, sex, presence of systemic symptoms, possible etiological factors, laboratory results, types of cutaneous lesions, locations of the lesions, treatment options, and disease course. Results There were 43 women and 32 men. Cutaneous lesions affected only the lower limbs in 60 of the 75 patients (80%) and usually presented as palpable purpura (64%, n = 48). Arthralgia (26.7%, n = 20) was the most frequent extracutaneous symptom. Of the patients with secondary vasculitis, the most common causes were infections and drugs. The mean age of the patients with Henoch-Schönlein purpura was 26.8 years. There was no significant association between age and renal, gastrointestinal, or joint involvement. Conclusions The most common form of vasculitis in our study was cutaneous leukocytoclastic vasculitis. In most of the patients it appeared to be idiopathic. Among drugs, antibiotics were the most common etiological factor. In 4 patients, the cutaneous leukocytoclastic vasculitis behaved like the paraneoplastic syndrome.

BACKGROUND::Pruritus is the most commonly occurring subjective symptom of dermatological disease. Published data on both prevalence and intensity of pruritus in psoriasis is limited.OBJECTIVE::In this study we aimed to investigate the prevalence of pruritus and its relation with psoriasis area severity index, body mass index and presence of systemic disease in patients with psoriasis.METHODS::We analyzed data of psoriatic patients diagnosed in our psoriasis outpatient clinic between March 2013 and June 2014 collected retrospectively from PSR-TR registration system.RESULTS::In total, 880 patients were analyzed. Pruritus was more prominent in female patients. This difference was statistically significant. No significant associations were found between age of patients, clinical type of disease and pruritus. The itching was more common in patients with higher body mass index. Presence of pruritus was correlated significantly with severity of psoriasis. Five hundred and sixty of 880 patients had no systemic disease. The presence of pruritus was not related with presence of systemic disease. Existence of systemic disease with psoriasis has minimal effect on pruritus.STUDY LIMITATIONS::We did not evaluate intensity of pruritus.CONCLUSIONS::Pruritus is not mentioned within the classical symptoms of psoriasis. Pruritus in psoriasis is a very unpleasant symptom with great potential to impair patient's quality of life and may exacerbate psoriasis as a Koebner phenomenon.

Introduction: Psoriasis is a chronic, immune-mediated inflammatory disease predominantly affecting the skin, with a complex aetiology. Recently it has been suggested that the chronic inflammation of psoriasis may cause metabolic and vascular disorders. The relationship between obesity and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is not clear, and there are insufficient prospective studies addressing this subject.Aim: To investigate the relationship between psoriatic arthritis, severity of psoriasis and obesity in the Turkish population.Material and methods: Patient data from psoriasis outpatient clinics from February 2007 to July 2013 were reviewed retrospectively using the Psoriasis-Turkey (PSR-TR) registration system. Patients' age, onset age, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, psoriasis area and severity index (PASI), and arthritis information were reviewed. In the outpatient clinics, patients who had joint pain consulted rheumatology clinics. The CASPAR criteria were used for the diagnosis of arthritis.Results: A total of 443 males and 495 females enrolled in this study. The mean age of females was 43.9 years (18-93 years) and the mean age of males was 44.6 years (18-89 years). A total of 231 (25%) patients had psoriatic arthritis. Investigation of the relationship between PASI, BMI, waist circumference (WC) and arthritis revealed a statistically significant relationship between each variable.Conclusions: In this study we observed a relationship between PsA and high BMI, high WC and high PASI. Psoriatic arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disorder and a chronic inflammatory state induced by adiposity may lead to PsA.

First described in 1963, eccrine syringofibroadenoma (ESFA) is a rare benign tumor that proliferates with differentiation toward ductal eccrine structures. There are many clinical presentations, including plaques, papules, verrucous plaques, keratotic tumors, and solitary tumors. The age of onset varies, with presentation between 16 and 80 years; however, solitary lesions are seen most commonly in the seventh and eighth decades. Here, we present the case of a 72-year-old woman referred to our outpatient clinic with a nodule on her leg. The histopathology result was ESFA. The lesion regressed after six cryotherapy sessions. Physicians should consider the possibility of ESFA and must remember its malignant potential in elderly patients.

Türkderm-Deri Hastalıkları ve Frengi Arşivi Dergisi, Galenos Yayınevi tarafından basılmıştır. Turkderm-Archives of the Turkish Dermatology and Venerology, published by Galenos Publishing. Background and Design: Psoriasis is a chronic immune-mediated inflammatory disease affecting 1-3% of the general population. Recently, it has been suggested that chronic inflammation in psoriasis may cause metabolic and vascular disorders. Most of recent studies focused on the comorbidities and the mechanisms of comorbidities associated with psoriasis. Obesity may lead to cardiovascular disorders, diyabetes mellitus, hypertension, malignancies, musculoskeleteal system diseases, impaired quality of life, and death. In this study, we aimed to investigate the prevalence of obesity in patients with psoriasis and the relationship between the disease severity and body mass index (BMI) in Turkish psoriasis population. Materials and Methods: The patients who attended the Dermatovenerology outpatient clinics at Bezmialem Vakıf University Medical Faculty between February 2007 and March 2013 were enrolled in the study. We retrospectively evaluated the medical records of the patients obtained from the PSR-TR psoriasis follow-up system. Results: Five hundred forty-five women and 474 men were included in the study. The mean age of the female and male patients was 41.3 years, 43.3 years, respectively. The mean body mass index of the patients was 27.5 (26.7 for men and 28.2 for women). 54.6% of obese patients had a psoriasis area and severity index (PASI) score of less than 5, 20.5% had PASI scores between 5-10 and 24.8% had a PASI score of more than 10. Conclusion: In our study, there was a poor relationship between obesity and severity of psoriasis. The prevalence of obesity in psoriasis patients was similar to that in the Turkish population. (Turkderm 2014; 48: 127-30)

OBJECTIVES:Psoriasis vulgaris is one of the most common skin disorders. Patients with psoriasis carry an excessive risk of coronary artery disease. Visceral adipose tissue around the heart affects the heart and coronaries by secreting proatherogenic mediators. It can be evaluated easily by measurement of epicardial fat thickness (EFT). The aim of this study was to investigate EFT in patients with psoriasis vulgaris.STUDY DESIGN:One hundred and fifteen adult patients (62 male; mean age 33.6±6.0 years) with psoriasis vulgaris (Group 1) and 60 age- and sex-matched healthy individuals (28 male; mean age, 32.5±8.3 years) (Group 2) were included in this study. EFT was obtained by transthoracic echocardiography. Disease-specific characteristics of the patients were recorded. Serum glucose, lipid profile and high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels were measured.RESULTS:EFT and hs-CRP were significantly higher in Group 1 than in Group 2 (5.7±1.2 vs. 4.1±1.0 mm, p<0.001 and 0.52±0.45 mg/dl vs. 0.19±0.17 mg/dl, p<0.001, respectively). The psoriasis disease activity score and hs-CRP were found to be independent predictors of EFT in patients with psoriasis vulgaris (ß=0.21, t=2.67, p=0.01 and ß=0.62, t=7.72, p=0.001, respectively).CONCLUSION:Our findings indicate that EFT was significantly higher in patients with psoriasis vulgaris compared with the controls. It was more prominent in patients with severe disease.

Background: Psoriasis vulgaris is one of the most prevalent chronic, inflammatory skin disorders. Patients with psoriasis have excess risk of essential hypertension. Masked hypertension (MH), defined as normal office blood pressure (BP) with elevated ambulatory BP (ABPM), has been drawing attention recently due to its association with increased risk of developing sustained hypertension, cardiovascular morbidity, and mortality. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of MH in psoriatic patients.Material/Methods: On hundred and ten middle-aged, normotensive, non-obese patients with psoriasis vulgaris and 110 age- and sex-matched normotensive controls were included in the study. ABPM was performed in all participants over a 24-h period. The clinical severity of the disease was determined according to current indexes.Results: The prevalence of MH among subjects with psoriasis vulgaris was 31.8% and increased compared to control subjects (p<0.01). Predictors of MH in patients with psoriasis vulgaris were detected as male sex, smoking, obesity-related anthropometric measures, and disease activity. Male sex, waist circumference, and diffuse psoriatic involvement were detected as independent predictors of MH.Conclusions: MH is prevalent in patients with psoriasis vulgaris. Assessment with ABPM and close follow-up for development of hypertension is reasonable.

Sarcoidosis is a chronic, inflammatory, multi-organ disease of unknown origin that is characterized by non-caseating granuloma formation in affected organs. Cutaneous involvement is reported in 25% of patients with sarcoidosis. Scar sarcoidosis is rare but is clinically specific for skin sarcoidosis. Systemic involvement is seen in most patients with scar sarcoidosis. We present a case of scar sarcoidosis in a 30-year-old male that developed infiltrated nodules on old scars, including on his penile shaft, which is rare, and that also had pulmonary involvement. Scar sarcoidosis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of changes in all scar areas and should be investigated for systemic involvement.