A 67-year-old man consulted to our department on October 1999 with rashes on his soles. His house was redecorated from October 1998 to February 1999. After redecoration of his house, maceration and scaly erythematous macules developed on his soles and toes. Contact to tatami might develop. Patch testing demonstrated positive reactions to tatami but negative to each material of tatami. We concluded his lesions were caused by tatami component except the rushes or dying agents. We recognized that hearing in details from patients was very important to diagnosis of contact dermatitis.

View full abstract

We experienced nonpigmenting fixed drug eruption in a 65 year-old female patient. Her history was that itchy erythematous plaques developed on her waist and both thighs on the next day after oral administration of cefaclor and these plaques faded without pigmentation within a week. Patch and scratch testing on her back and forearm showed negative reactions to cefaclor. An oral provocation with cefaclor induced itchy erythematous plaques on her waist and both thighs 9 hours after the administration. The skin lesion faded without pigmentation within a week. We diagnosed this case as nonpigmenting fixed drug eruption due to cefaclor.

View full abstract

We report on three cases of tinea capitis (black-dot ringworm, BDR) in a Japanese high-school wrestling team caused by Trichophyton (T.) tonsurans. Case 1: A 17-year-old male wrestler, who was diagnosed as having tinea corporis effecting the right ear, trunk and thighs, was treated with griseofulvin in August 2001. In February, 2002, he visited our clinic again because of recurrence of the tinea on the nape. Asymptomatic black dots were found on his scalp. Direct KOH examination of the black dots revealed abundant arthroconidia entirely contained within, and filling, the hair shafts. Tinea capitis (BDR) was diagnosed and oral griseofulvin was prescribed again. Case 2: A 16-year-old male wrestler, a team mate of the patient in Case 1, visited our clinic in April 2002 suffering from pruritic erythema on the right side of the scalp. Several black dots were observed on the erythema. Direct KOH examination of the black dot indicated tinea capitis (BDR). Case 3: We visited the patients' school and screened all 11 members of the team for dermatophytosis. Another 17-year-old male wrestler was found to have BDR. In all three cases, BDR was caused by T. tonsurans and treatement with oral griseofulvin was succesful. Tinea capitis (BDR), caused by T. tonsurans, may be a major source of fungi involved in the epidemic of the dermatophytosis. Therefore, accurate diagnosis of, and adequate treatment for, tinea capitis is essential.

View full abstract

We report on a mother and two children who had dermatophytosis caused by Arthroderma (A.) vanbreuseghemii (+). They visited our hospital in August 2001. The mother, aged 34, had tinea manus on the left hand. One daughter, aged 12 years, had tinea corporis on the abdominal wall and the other daughter, aged 4 years, had tinea corporis on the left elbow. The tinea manus on the mother consisted of scaly erythema and vesicles on the dorsal surface and on the hypothenar. Erythema on the sisters consisted of clearly demarcated scaly lesions with irregular infiltration and follicular papules. The isolates were identified as A. vanbreuseghemii by mating both types of tester strain. The identification was confirmed by Mva I restriction enzyme analysis of PCR products of internal transcribed spacer regions of ribosomal DNA. We suspect that all the patients were infected from their cat pet, although a culture from the cat was negative for the fungus.

View full abstract

We tried a moxibustion (moxa therapy) on tinea unguium of a patient. The patient was a 67-year old male who had suffered from a cerebral infarction since 1979 and lumbago for 5 years.
He had noticed the discoloration, weakness and deformity of all his toenails and left fingernails since 5 years ago. His doctor diagnosed his condition tinea unguium and dosed him a topical anti-fungous. However he could not apply it on his nails. His nails had not improved. He suffered from the inconvenience of finger work because of a fragility of his fingernails.
We tried a moxibustion on his fingernails once a day, 1-2 times a week. At the beginning of the moxibustion, the discoloration rate of his 1st left fingernail was 10 and 1 after 10 month's treatment. We concluded that a moxibustion on tinea unguium was a choice of treatment for the tinea unguium of patients who could not take oral anti-fungous.

View full abstract

An application test of “Locobase^® REPAIR” was performed in 40 patients with dry skin found in atopic dermatitis and xeroderma. This preparation is a moisturizing cream containing ceramide 3, cholesterol and free fatty acids. At the end of a 4-week's application test, markedly beneficial effects were observed in the evaluation of its usefulness including improvements in skin condition and safety, with 85.0% of the patients showing a moderate improvements or better responses. Adverse events including pruritus or increased pruritus were noted in three patients. One patient was successfully treated through the application of an external medicine that was being used on a different region, and the other by the concomitant administration of oral antihistamines. The third patient's symptoms disappeared without any treatment after the application test period ended. These results suggest that Locobase^® REPAIR is a beneficial moisturizing cream in the treatment of dry skin found in atopic dermatitis and xeroderma, and can be used safely.

View full abstract

Clinical evaluation of skin safety and usefulness for dry skin by a new cosmetic series “MM” was made in patients with contact dermatitis and atopic dermatitis by usage test. The “MM” series, intended to be hypoirritant and hypoallergic, were prepared by Nippon Menard Cosmetic Co., Ltd., for the subjects with sensitive skin. It is composed of cleansing cream, washing cream, lotion, milk lotion, and cream, totaling 5 cosmetics. The results of the arm usage test for 4 weeks in 10 patients with atopic dermatitis and 10 healthy volunteers indicated that the “MM” series significantly improved dry skin. Furthermore, the results of the face usage test for 4 weeks in 30 patients with dry skin indicated that the “MM” series were safe, since only a few patients stopped this trial due to side effects, and the improvement rate in dry skin was high. The “MM” series were thus concluded to be safe and useful for those with sensitive skin.

View full abstract

We evaluated effects of a formulation consisting of 5% amidino-L-proline, which has waterholding ability and softening effect on the stratum corneum, on fine wrinkles at the eye corners in Japanese women in comparison with a placebo depleted of amidino-L-proline only. These formulations were applied twice daily for 6 weeks and fine wrinkles was assessed after 6 weeks of treatments. In evaluation using photo standards, a significant improvement of fine wrinkles was observed in the amidino-L-proline group in contrast to no change in the placebo group. This improvement of fine wrinkles was accompanied by significant increases in both skin elasticity and water content of the stratum corneum. These results indicate that the formulation consisting of 5% amidino-L-proline is useful in reducing the fine wrinkles at the eye corners. Skin Research, 1: 355-362, 2002

View full abstract