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Granulocyte monocyte apheresis (GMA) is an extracorporeal apheresis instrument that removes activated neutrophils and monocytes. Generalized pustular psoriasis (GPP) is characterized by neutrophil infiltration into the epidermis that causes Kogoj's spongiotic pustule. Thus, GMA is one of the useful therapies for GPP, and it was approved for the treatment in 2012 in Japan. Herein, we report a case of GPP with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) successfully treated with GMA in combination with hemodialysis (HD). A 54-year-old Japanese female visited our outpatient clinic because of erythema with pustules on her trunk and extremities over the past 4 months. Histopathological examination showed an intraepidermal pustule filled with numerous neutrophils and spongiosis. These findings led to the diagnosis of GPP. She had ESRD and had been treated with HD twice a week for approximately 4 years. During maintenance HD twice a week, weekly GMA was started at Tokai University Hospital. The skin symptoms disappeared after five administrations of GMA. We suggest that GMA is an effective therapy for GPP patients with ESRD who are treated with HD.

A 5-year-old girl noticed a rapidly growing reddish nodule on her right forearm. Although oral antibiotics had been administrated for 2 weeks, the tumor enlarged. Skin biopsy revealed excessive infiltration of atypical neoplastic cells expressing CD4, CD30 and anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK). These histological and immunohistochemical findings were consistent with anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL). Computed tomography showed multiple lymphadenopathy, but lymph node biopsy and bone marrow examination did not show any evidence of systemic dissemination. However, due to the positive results for ALK and multiple lymphadenopathy, we diagnosed ALK-positive ALCL forming a solitary skin tumor on the forearm. The patient received chemotherapy and presented marked improvement. This paper discusses the difficulty of diagnosing pediatric ALK-positive ALCL limited to the skin and reviews the medical published work.

Various therapies have been tried for psoriasis. In Japan, biologics began to be used for psoriasis treatment in January 2010. Their clinical efficacy is well known, but biologics cannot be used in all psoriasis patients for reasons such as side-effects and cost. It is necessary to evaluate the effect of long-term psoriasis treatment, but there have been no reports evaluating long-term treatment. Therefore, the outcomes of patients who had been treated at the Tokai University Hospital for more than 5 years, before biological agents were released, were examined. Three categories, classified by initial severity, changes in severity by method of treatment and background characteristics, were investigated. In conclusion, cases of long-term treatment with a combination of topical corticosteroid and topical vitamin D3 analog or oral cyclosporin were found to be effective therapies. Patients with a history of diabetes mellitus or cardiovascular disease of psoriasis were likely to be treatment resistant.