SEARCH · PubMed Health
Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
Three cases of pityriasis rosea in Chinese children are presented. Using polymerase chain reaction for detection of human herpesvirus 7 (HHV-7) DNA in plasma and peripheral blood lymphocytes, we find no evidence of active HHV-7 infection.
Pityriasis rosea, a self-limited exanthematous disease of unknown etiology, is a fairly common exanthem encountered by dermatology nurses and nurse practitioners. Their special roles in diagnosis, symptomatic relief, care for patients with atypical rash, patient education, and counseling are described.
Atypical cases of pityriasis rosea (PR) are fairly common and less readily recognized than typical eruptions. We present four patients for whom we believe atypical PR is the most likely diagnosis. A 33-year-old man had purpuric lesions bilaterally on the legs with classical rash on the trunk. A 28-year-old woman had intensely pruritic and urticarial lesions. A 10-year-old girl had hundreds of small papular lesions 1-3 mm in size. A pregnant woman aged 26 had oral haemorrhagic ulcers with classical PR eruption on her trunk. The oral ulcers erupted and remitted at the same time as the generalized eruption. We reviewed the literature and proposed a classification based on rash morphology, rash size, rash distribution, number of lesions, site of lesions, severity of symptoms and course of the eruption. We believe that it is difficult to make a clear division to define typical and atypical PR, and that it is important not to ascribe any unusual or atypical skin eruption with PR unless other dermatoses have been excluded.
A case of recurrent pityriasis rosea in a 39-year-old woman is presented. She had her first attack of pityriasis rosea 5 years ago and new outbreaks followed every year, in the spring. Her husband had a severe attack of pityriasis rosea 6 years ago. All laboratory investigations were normal and no explanation for the many recurrences was found.
Pityriasis rosea is a common disorder of unknown etiology that may simulate a number of other dermatologic entities. Secondary syphilis should always be ruled out, particularly in adolescents. Pruritus occurs more frequently than is generally appreciated. The herald patch may not always be present. Secondary lesions occasionally occur distal to the elbows and knees and on the face. Over the more proximal parts of the body the secondary lesions will characteristically align themselves with the long axis following the skin lines of cleavage. The natural course is that of spontaneous resolution within 6 to 8 weeks. Sequelae are rare and usually medically insignificant. Management with oral antipruritics and/or topical steroids may be necessary to relieve the itching.
A complete study of pityriasis rosea (Gibert) has been performed; this study includes: --a pathological and ultrastructural examination of the skin biopsies; --an immunological study: direct and indirect immunofluorescence (seric anti-cutaneous antibodies); --a virological investigation: ultrastructural examination of the specimens, inoculation of homogenized-skin specimens to 3 cellular cultures; --serological investigations for influenza A, B, parainfluenza 1, 2, 3, adenovirus, respiratory syncitial virus, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, ornithosis-psittacosis, Q-fever, herpes-virus, herpes-virus varicellae, cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus. All viral investigations had a negative result. Virus or virus-like particle has were not detected on the ultrastructural examinations. A viral infective agent cannot be incriminated as the cause of PRG. However, a large number of PRG patients had antibodies for the Epstein-Barr virus early antigen. The authors are carrying on with this particular investigation.
In 15 patients with pityriasis rosea, we studied the evolutionary changes of the immunohistological characteristics of the secondary lesions. Many CD1a+ cells were seen in the epidermis and dermis of early lesions. In the well-developed lesions, the number of CD1a+ cells greatly increased in the dermis. In the late lesions, CD1a+ cells in the dermis significantly decreased as compared with the well-developed lesions. Early lesions showed a moderate T-cell infiltrate. In the well-developed lesions, the dermal T-cell infiltrate was dense, and the CD4 CD8 ratio was 2.9. The late lesions had a moderate T-cell infiltrate, in which the CD4 CD8 ratio significantly decreased as compared with the well-developed lesions. Thus, the relative decrease in CD4+ helper inducer cells during lesion regression, concomitant with a decrease in number of CD1a+ Langerhans cells, is in accordance with a broader concept of increased suppressor mechanisms during healing.
UNLABELLED: There are only few articles in literature which discuss the association between Meyerson's naevi and Pityriasis rosea. And when so, the discussion is done in a controversial way. Here an 18 year old man is presented who visits the outpatient clinic. He has a ten day history of a solitary Meyerson's naevus on his back. Over the next three weeks this naevus will develop to the typical herold patch followed by the classical exantheme of Pityriasis rosea. CONCLUSION: Halo dermatitis associated with Pityriasis rosea don't represent Meyerson's naevi. But they reflect the rare "nevocentric" property of a not so rare dermatose.
BACKGROUND: Conflicting results on the association of pityriasis rosea and human herpesvirus 7 infection have been reported by different investigators. AIM: To review the level of evidence for such an association. METHODS: Medline was searched with unlimited data entry and 13 reports were retrieved. The data were analyzed for a causative association according to the criteria of Fredericks and Relman, which take into consideration latent infection and the reactivation of viruses characteristic of herpesviruses, and the roles of sequence-based detection methods. RESULTS: None of the criteria was substantiated by the findings of most investigators. Factors leading to the discrepancies of the results were discussed. CONCLUSION: There is currently insufficient evidence that human herpesvirus 7 infection is causally related to pityriasis rosea.
BACKGROUND: The study stemmed from an incidental observation of improvement in 2 patients with pityriasis rosea while receiving erythromycin. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of erythromycin in patients with pityriasis rosea. METHODS: A double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study was performed in an outpatient setting in a major hospital. Ninety patients over a period of 2 years were alternatively assigned to treatment group or placebo group. Patients in the treatment group received erythromycin in divided doses for 14 days. The response was categorized as complete response, partial response, or no response. All patients were followed up for 6 weeks. RESULTS: Both groups were comparable with regard to age at presentation, sex, and average duration of disease at the time of reporting to the clinic. Upper respiratory tract infection before the appearance of skin lesions was reported in 68.8% of all patients. Complete response was observed in 33 patients (73.33%) in the treatment group and none in the placebo group (P <.0001). CONCLUSION: Oral erythromycin was effective in treating patients with pityriasis rosea.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Rash orientation in pityriasis rosea (PR) has been described as Christmas-tree pattern, inverted Christmas-tree pattern, fir tree pattern, parallel to the ribs or along skin cleavage lines. We retrieved clinical photographs of 11 patients diagnosed as having PR over a two-year period for qualitative study of rash orientation. We found that Langer's cleavage lines are the most appropriate description. All three components of these lines on the trunk, i.e. V-shaped pattern on upper chest and upper back, circumferential pattern around the shoulders and hips, and transverse pattern on the lower anterior trunk and lower back, are demonstrated by most patients. We believe with the present state of knowledge, the mechanism for PR following Langer's lines is best considered unknown. We advocate abandoning other descriptions which might cause confusion to students and trainee physicians.
A sample of 249 patients was drawn from an original population of 939 patients with pityriasis rosea identified in an earlier population-based study of pityriasis rosea in Rochester, Minnesota. A control was selected for each case, matched for age, sex, and year of diagnosis. Comparison was made with regard to recent immunization, history of atopy, and recent infection. A statistically significant number of patients had experienced recent upper respiratory tract infection (P less than 0.005). The association between recent infection and pityriasis rosea is discussed.
Pityriasis rosea is a skin disease which is obscure in its etiology and pathogenesis. We studied its immunopathology by immunophenotyping the inflammatory cells in situ using monoclonal antibodies that define leukocyte subsets. Findings as to T-cells and their major subsets did not reveal disease-specific data. Monocytes stained only rarely. Neither natural killer cells, B-cells nor plasma cells were ever found. An unexpected finding was the presence within the infiltrates and rarely within the epidermis of cells having the immunophenotype of interdigitating cells (RFD1+). Intense and dendritic staining with anti-T6 and anti-HLA-DR indicated Langerhans cells to be present in the dermal infiltrates, in between these infiltrates in the papillary dermis, and focally within the parakeratotic horny layer. This Langerhans' cell pattern provides evidence for dermal Langerhans cell compartmentalization and transepidermal Langerhans' cell elimination. Such a distribution indicates a change in Langerhans' cell migration processes in pityriasis rosea pathogenesis.
A population-based epidemiologic study of pityriasis rosea was developed for Rochester, MN, for a recent 10-year period. Nine hundred thirty-nine patients with pityriasis rosea (340 male patients and 599 female patients) who resided within Rochester city limits at the time the diagnosis was made were included. The average annual incidence rate of this disease was 172.2 per 100,000 person-years (158.9 per 100,000, adjusted to the 1970 U.S. white population). Female patients predominated by a margin of 1.5:1.0. More than 75% of the patients were between the ages of 10 and 35 years, with a mean age of 22.7 years and a range of 10 months to 78 years. There was a recurrence of the illness in 1.8% of the patients after an average of 4.5 years of follow-up. The highest rate was noted in 1972, following which there was a steady and significant decline in incidence. The incidence of the disease was significantly higher in the colder months than in the warmer season. Patients in twenty-one close-contact pairs experienced the disease at varying intervals. Recent past infections or history of atopy was noted in nearly one third of the cases.
Light and electron microscopic studies of biopsy specimens taken from five patients with pityriasis rosea revealed the most conspicuous finding to be the presence of dyskeratotic cells within the epidermis. Ultrastructurally, these cells contained an aggregation of tonofilaments, intracytoplasmic desmosomes, many vacuoles, and viral-like particles. It is assumed that pityriasis rosea is caused by a virus to which these changes are related.