Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to R Happle.
Restrictive dermopathy is a rare autosomal recessive lethal skin dysplasia. It has been assumed that the characteristic morphologic abnormalities should allow a reliable prenatal diagnosis on fetal skin biopsies at about 20 weeks pregnancy. We report on a false-negative prenatal diagnosis.
We report on 2 independent lines of evidence suggesting genomic imprinting of a major gene for psoriasis vulgaris. First, the birth weight of children from psoriatics is influenced by the sex of the psoriatic parent. Children from fathers with psoriasis are considerably (270 g) heavier than children from mothers with psoriasis (P less than 0.004). Second, the disease manifestation (penetrance) depends in part on the sex of the psoriatic parent. Offspring from fathers with psoriasis and male "gene carriers" are significantly (P less than 0.015 and P less than 0.007) more often affected than offspring from mothers with psoriasis and female "gene carriers." Of 91 grandchildren with psoriasis 59 (65%) have an affected grandfather and 32 (35%) a psoriatic grandmother. This deviation from the expected distribution is significant (P less than 0.04). Genomic imprinting is considered a special case of epigenetic modification. We propose that epigenetic modifications of a major predisposing gene in somatic tissues could cause differences in disease activity of psoriasis and could account for the often unpredictable clinical course the disease takes.
"Dyschromia in confetti" is a pigmentary disturbance that so far has not been reported to have occurred during topical immunotherapy. In a group of 243 patients treated with diphenylcyclopropenone for alopecia areata, four patients showed a similar pattern of hyperpigmentation and hypopigmentation. In one patient the pigmentary disturbance was confined to the site of diphenylcyclopropenone application on the scalp. Besides dyschromic skin changes on her scalp, one patient had development of a hyperpigmentation on her forearms. In the remaining two patients, dyschromia in confetti became manifest exclusively in areas other than the scalp. This type of pigmentary disturbance appeared 4 to 14 months after the start of treatment, and it has remained unchanged in three patients during a follow-up period of 3 to 10 months. In one patient, the pigmentary changes disappeared when therapy was discontinued but recurred, albeit to a lesser extent, after treatment had been resumed. We conclude that dyschromia in confetti should be regarded as a possible, but probably rare, side effect of topical immunotherapy with diphenylcyclopropenone, especially in individuals with a rather dark complexion.
A 28-year-old man had numerous slightly papillomatous melanocytic nevi that were arranged in a linear pattern on his right arm. Their distribution was reminiscent of the lines of Blaschko. The nevi had been present since birth and were in part covered with terminal hair. Histopathologic examination showed typical features of congenital melanocytic compound nevi. In addition, the blue-eyed patient showed an iris bicolor in the form of a sectorial brown pigmentation of his right iris. This unusual case may provide a clue to the genetic basis of pigmented nevi.
Epidermolysis bullosa is a heterogeneous group of heritable blistering skin diseases affecting epidermis and the dermal-epidermal junction zone. Recently, genetic linkage to the type VII collagen gene (Z = 8.77; theta = 0.00) localized on chromosome 3p21 was shown in three Finnish families with the autosomal dominant form of dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa. Two Dutch kindreds with intrafamilial characteristics of both the Cockayne-Touraine type and Bart's syndrome of autosomal dominant dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa have been studied. Two-point linkage analysis in these two families with the COL7A1 marker revealed a combined lod score of Z = 6.08 at theta = 0.00. These data strongly suggest that the type VII collagen gene is the candidate gene in these Dutch pedigrees. At least two (Cockayne-Touraine and Bart) of the three subtypes of dominant dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa seem to represent different forms of expression of the same gene defect.
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Within a group of 139 patients previously studied during treatment for alopecia areata with diphenylcyclopropenone (DCP), hair growth was re-evaluated after a period of 19 months following completion of our previous study. Fifty-four patients treated with DCP had total and 6 had partial but cosmetically acceptable regrowth. Twenty-five patients with total regrowth had stopped DCP treatment for a mean period of 15 months and had not relapsed. Nineteen of 28 patients who still applied DCP were in the process of stepwise discontinuation of treatment. Fifteen patients had subsequently been treated with squaric acid dibutylester (SADBE) after having acquired 'tolerance' to DCP; at the time of re-evaluation 3 of these patients had complete regrowth, and 4 patients had partial but cosmetically acceptable regrowth. Topical immunotherapy with DCP and SADBE had resulted in total regrowth in 57/139 patients (41.0%) and in partial but cosmetically satisfactory regrowth in 10/139 patients (7.2%). The type of involvement and duration of alopecia areata were factors of prognostic significance.
Substantial evidence indicates that genetic factors may have a role in the etiology of alopecia areata (AA). Most studies, however, provide only general information on the familial incidence but fail to specify family relationships. We therefore obtained information on the incidence of AA in first degree relatives of 348 severely affected patients. In 7% one of the parents was affected. Among the siblings of the patients 3% had developed AA, while AA was present in 2% of the children. Taking into account the age of the children, their lifetime risk was calculated to approach 6%. However, a severe type of AA is to be expected only in about 2% of the children. The degree of involvement observed in the patients did not influence the frequency and type of AA present in their first degree relatives.
The monoclonal antibody Ki-67 was used to determine the numbers of cycling cells in hair follicles both in alopecia areata and in normal scalp skin. Pronounced nuclear staining was limited to the area below the critical line of Auber and the exterior part of the outer root sheath. In alopecia areata there is reduced nuclear Ki-67 binding in the bulb of anagen hair follicles. These findings indicate that inhibition of keratinocyte proliferation might be a pathogenetic mechanism in alopecia areata.
One hundred and seventy-eight patients with severe alopecia areata were asked at interview whether they attributed their first attack of hair loss to an emotional trauma. Twelve patients (6.7%) reported a severely disturbing event during the 6 months preceding the first symptoms of their disease. No patient reported that episodes of hair loss coincided with stressful life events. Emotional triggers were not especially correlated with any particular type of alopecia areata. The present study does not therefore provide evidence of a significant role of emotional stress in the pathogenesis of alopecia areata.
Primary rhabdomyosarcoma can arise in the skin, but there are few reports on this common childhood malignancy in the dermatological literature. We report on a male infant with a cutaneous tumour growing on the right nasal bridge since his 10th week of life. Clinically the tumour mimicked pilomatrixoma. Histological and immunohistological examination of the skin tumour and of subsequent lymph node metastases revealed rhabdomyosarcoma of the alveolar growth pattern. Our patient died at the age of 4 years of disseminated organ metastases.
Longitudinal white bands on the fingernails were observed in a 58-year-old male patient with perianal intertrigo. His nail changes were a first clue to the diagnosis of Hailey-Hailey disease, which was later confirmed histopathologically. Similar nail abnormalities were found in the patient's son who was also affected with Hailey-Hailey disease. These findings support the concept that those nail changes, first described by Burge in 1991, constitute a useful diagnostic marker in Hailey-Hailey disease.
The case of a newborn boy with ichthyosiform erythroderma, asymmetrical shortening of the femur and sectorial cataract is reported. The hyperkeratotic areas cleared within 2 months, resulting in follicular atrophoderma. The clinical findings and course of the disease, and also the histological and ultrastructural features, indicate an X-linked dominant chondrodysplasia punctata (Happle). Since a normal male karyotype (46, XY) is present, a half-chromatid mutation of the maternal gamete and a somatic mutation are considered as possible explanations for this mosaic phenotype.
BACKGROUND: Restrictive dermopathy is an autosomal recessive phenotype characterized by universal tautness of skin resulting in fetal akinesia and death during the neonatal period. The clinical signs and symptoms of this uncommon disease are described in two brothers, and evidence is provided that fetal biopsy specimens obtained during the 20th week of gestational age are nondiagnostic. OBSERVATIONS: The first patient was a growth-retarded preterm boy suffering from generalized desquamation, marked joint contractures, and facial hypoplasia. Prominent light microscopic findings were hyperorthokeratosis intermingled with parakeratosis and absence of the elastic fibers in a thinned dermis. Electron microscopic examination of the epidermis revealed a lack of keratin filaments and an abnormal globular shape of the keratohyalin granules. The child died 4 days after birth. A following pregnancy resulted in birth of a preterm boy who died of the same disease within 2 hours. In the 20th week of gestational age, fetal biopsy specimens were obtained, but light and electron microscopy failed to reveal any abnormalities. CONCLUSIONS: Restrictive dermopathy is a genuine skin disease resulting in fetal akinesia that precludes a normal intrauterine development. The clinical features of this disorder are so distinctive that an on-the-spot diagnosis can be established. In view of the data obtained in this case, the feasibility of prenatal diagnosis should be regarded with great caution.
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A family affected in two generations with the NAME syndrome is described, and the literature on this phenotype reviewed. The term "NAME" was originally proposed as an acronym for "nevi, atrial myxoma, myxoid neurofibromata and ephelides". However, in order to give a more comprehensive description of this syndrome, we recommend the following alternative interpretation of "NAME": nevi, atrial myxoma, mucinosis of the skin, endocrine overactivity. Previous family observations suggested a dominant, and probably autosomal, inheritance but an X-linked dominant transmission could not be excluded. We describe male-to-male transmission, strongly supporting the concept of the autosomal inheritance of this trait.
Vascular twin nevi, i.e., telangiectatic nevus and nevus anemicus occurring together and adjacent to each other, can be explained as twin spots resulting from a somatic recombination. It is so far unclear, however, whether the postulated underlying autosomal recessive mutations are allelic. This problem can be approached by studying another cutaneous phenotype, phacomatosis pigmentovascularis. Within this diagnosis, several authors have reported the simultaneous occurrence of three different birthmarks, viz., a pigmentary nevus, a telangiectatic nevus and a nevus anemicus. These cases can also be explained as a twin-spot phenomenon, provided two of these nevi are considered allelic traits. The two vascular nevi are most probably allelic, whereas the pigmentary nevus may be a nonallelic component of this syndrome. In conclusion, phacomatosis pigmentovascularis provides circumstantial evidence suggesting allelism of somatic mutations giving rise to two different vascular nevi.