Alopecia areata (AA) is a common disease of hair follicles. Cryotherapy has been employed to stimulate hair regrowth. We decided to evaluate the efficacy of this method in patchy AA. Forty patients of age >5 years and with 120 recalcitrant patches were enrolled in this study. AA had covered less than 25% of patients' scalps. In each individual, one lesion was treated with nitrogen cryotherapy once weekly for a period of 6 weeks; meanwhile another lesion was treated with topical 0.1% betamethasone lotion. All patients were followed up from weeks 2 to 14. Thirty-nine out of forty patients completed therapy. The overall response rate was 88% for patches treated with cryotherapy and 90% for patches treated with betamethasone lotion. Complete recovery (>90% terminal hair growth) was not obtained in any patient. Chi-square test showed no significant difference between improvements of alopecia in the two groups (reliability 95%). Pearson measurement showed a significant reverse relationship between diameter and duration of patches and the improvement rate in both groups. Liquid nitrogen cryotherapy can be a helpful modality in the treatment of AA.
Because of the awareness of the environmental damage caused by industrialization, a trend has developed to use products with natural ingredients. Herbal products have been used for the treatment of disease, most commonly in the last century. As herbal supplements become more popular, several adverse side effects have been reported in users who also take other medications. In dermatology ,many botanicals are used especially with regard to cosmetic benefits of natural topical products on skin aging process,so dermatologists should face with higher side effects of these types of drugs.The most common presentation of topical aromatherapy side effects are contact dermatitis and the second in order will be contact urticarial reactions
Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) is a rare autosomal recessive genodermatosis. Skin abnormalities result from an inability to repair UV-damaged DNA. Clinically, XP presents with early onset cutaneous changes (severe photosensitivity, actinic keratoses, and telangiectasias) and an increase of developing cutaneous malignancies beginning in early childhood, but lentigo maligna and melanomas are relatively rare. Here we report on homozygote twins in whom there was no positive family history. They showed subnormal physical growth. On ophthalmological examination, both had photophobia and decreased visual acuity. Since birth, several excisions had been performed for skin neoplasms. In one of them a pigmented patch developed over the frontal area which proved to be lentigo maligna and she was referred to a dermato-oncology center. They have been given isotretinoin and physical sunscreen since then. The follow-up period was extended to 2 years and no serious complications occurred from the above treatment. This is an interesting report about XP in twins with the presentation of the rare neoplasm lentigo maligna.
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