SUMMARYA 53-year-old man developed a widespread erythematous eruption which rapidly evolved into fluidfilled bulla mostly involving the distal areas of all four limbs and erosions on the oral as well as anogenital mucosa. Based on clinical presentation, chronology of drug exposure, past events and histopathology as diagnosis of widespread bullous fixed drug eruption was made over Steven Johnson-toxic epidermal necrolysis syndrome. Steroids were deferred and the lesions healed with minimal pigmentation within a week. Differentiating between the two entities has been historically difficult, and yet can have significant therapeutic and prognostic implications.
BACKGROUND
Gangrene is an uncommon complication in cases of rickettsial spotted fever. We report three cases of spotted fever from south India, presumably caused by Rickettsia conorii subspecies indica. Along with gangrene, these cases had severe manifestations of sepsis and multiorgan dysfunction syndrome (MODS) like acute kidney injury, liver dysfunction, delirium and seizure. One patient died while the other two recovered well. This case series is being reported to highlight the occurrence of gangrene in spotted fever rickettsiosis and the importance of appropriate management at the earliest.
Tuberculosis is a common disease. The cutaneous form of tuberculosis known as tuberculid is an uncommon disease and is easily misdiagnosed. Lichen scrofulosorum is a rare form of tuberculid seen in children and young adults with or without other manifestations of tuberculosis. We report a case of a young adult with lichen scrofulosorum along with tuberculous lymphadenitis. The skin lesions responded promptly to antitubercular therapy with complete clearance of the lesions. Identification of the skin manifestation was especially important in this case because the lymph node biopsy was inconclusive, with tissue culture proving the diagnosis only after 4 weeks.
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