11/12. Post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis.Post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis is a dermatosis which was described during the first quarter of this century. Most cases reported are from the Indian subcontinent and certain parts of africa. The disease generally follows an attack of kala-azar, usually a few months to several years after the visceral disease has healed. The clinical picture is variable. In this report, we present a case of post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis in a 5-year-old Iranian boy who presented with multiple, asymptomatic, erythematous papules on his trunk and extremities and a brownish, figurate discoloration on his lower extremities, 4 years after an attack of kala-azar which was completely cured. Histopathological examination of one of the biopsied papules revealed multiple Leishman bodies. The patient was successfully treated with a pentavalent antimonial compound. ( info) |
12/12. The efficacy of pentamidine combined with allopurinol and immunotherapy for the treatment of patients with diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis.A new treatment regimen was tested on patients with incurable diffuse cutaneous leshmaniasis (DCL) infected with leishmania mexicana mexicana in mexico. Two patients with advanced stages of the disease were treated with polychemotherapy (pentamidine and allopurinol) combined with recombinant human interferon-gamma (rIFN-gamma). For determination of the best medication, parasites isolated from patient lesions were exposed to available drugs both as promastigotes and as intracellular amastigotes. A synergistic effect was observed in vitro for the combination of pentamidine and allopurinol. Both patients were treated and recovered rapidly, but one of them developed insulin-dependent type I diabetes because of pentamidine toxicity. The complication was controlled and both patients were discharged with an apparent parasitologic cure, but after 3 months the two patients began to relapse. Our results suggest that allopurinol-pentamidine polychemotherapy, involving reduced dosage of pentamidine, combined with rIFN-gamma is an alternative for DCL patients infected with L. m. mexicana. ( info) |
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