Biomedical subjects

W Z Stitt

Publications and source records attributed to W Z Stitt.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1996

Multiple chemical sensitivities, including iatrogenic allergic contact dermatitis, in a patient with chronic actinic dermatitis: implications for management.

BACKGROUND: Chronic actinic dermatitis represents a spectrum of photosensitive dermatoses. Phototesting and photopatch testing are necessary to elucidate the specific subtype. Such patients may have multiple cutaneous allergies and photoallergies. OBJECTIVE: This is a case report of a patient with chronic actinic dermatitis whose condition was worsened by certain sunscreens and corticosteroids. Our purpose was to identify the specific subtype of chronic actinic dermatitis and cutaneous allergens. METHODS: Phototesting to UVB and UVA was performed. Photopatch testings to standard photoallergens and to Photoplex sunscreen ingredients was performed. Patch testing to standard allergens and proprietary corticosteroids was performed. RESULTS: Positive photoallergies to Photoplex sunscreen and the UVA screen within Photoplex, Parsol 1789 (4-tert-butyl-4'-methoxydibenzoyl-methane), were identified. Positive allergies to Aclovate (alclometasone dipropionate) cream and ointment and Locoid (hydrocortisone butyrate) ointment were identified. The patient showed increased UVB sensitivity. CONCLUSION: This is a case report of a patient with chronic actinic dermatitis. A relevant photoallergy to Parsol 1789 and corticosteroid sensitivities to aclometasone and hydrocortisone butyrate were identified. Multiple cutaneous allergens may be identified in patients with chronic actinic dermatoses, and avoidance of known allergens may result in significant improvement of the chronic dermatitis.

Adrenal Cortex Hormones↗

PubMed1995

Scratch and sniff. The dynamic duo.

Are odors diagnostic? In this age of polymerase chain reactions, in situ hybridization, and immunohistochemical staining, is there any room left for the nose in diagnosing disease? Long ago, and perhaps far away, smell was crucial to describing an illness. Infectious diseases were known by their characteristics odors--scrofula as smelling like stale beer; typhoid, like freshly baked brown bread; rubella, like plucked feathers; and diphtheria, as "sweetish." Anosmics might be banned from medical school. Perhaps we have left the descriptions behind along with these illnesses we rarely encounter today. After all, how many young physicians, residents, or medical students have ever seen a case of diphtheria or even rubella, and how many fewer have ever plucked a chicken? We have learned that pellagra (that "must appear" diagnosis in our differential by rote, but not by example, for photosensitive dermatoses) should smell like sour bread and that the exotic favus should smell "mousy" (Table 1). What does Candida smell like--a "heavy sweetness"? Darier's disease in poor control--"organic"? Pseudomonal infections--"foul and biting"? And are not our patients with noninfected eczematous dermatitis distinct for lacking any peculiar odor, do they not actually smell "dry"? We cannot blame the abandonment of our olfactory skills on the younger generation, for how many of us could describe those odors we smell every day? Would we be able to detect a subtle change in the odor of our patient with psoriasis, a change perhaps signifying superinfection?

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Coexistence of incontinentia pigmenti and neonatal herpes simplex virus infection.

We present a female infant with classic clinical and histologic features of stage I incontinentia pigmenti with coexistent neonatal herpes simplex virus infection. The diagnosis of a heritable cutaneous condition does not exclude the possibility of a coexistent infection and, given the similar clinical presentation of neonatal vesicular eruptions, accurate diagnoses may require skin biopsy and culture.

Diagnosis, Differential↗