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Herpes simplex virus (HSV) is known to influence the course of pemphigus vulgaris. Relapse, exacerbation, and treatment resistance in patients with pemphigus vulgaris can be due to HSV infection. To characterize the clinical markers of HSV infection among patients with pemphigus. This was a hospital-based, descriptive study performed with 60 consecutive patients with pemphigus vulgaris. The clinical and laboratory features of patients with documented HSV infection were then compared with those of patients without infection. HSV infection was confirmed in 23 (38.33%) patients. On univariate analysis, it was noted that male sex (P =.03); presence of fissures (P =.001), hemorrhagic crusts (P =.003), erosions with angulated margins (P =.024), and linear erosions (P =.001); and raised erythrocyte sedimentation rate (P =.015) were found to be significantly associated with HSV infection. In a multivariate analysis, hemorrhagic crusts (P =.015) and linear erosions (P =.008) were found to be independent predictors of HSV infection. We did not use polymerase chain reaction to detect HSV infection, which could have yielded more cases of HSV infection. In the clinical setting of pemphigus vulgaris, the presence of fissures, hemorrhagic crusts, linear erosions, erosions with angulated margins and raised erythrocyte sedimentation rate must alert the clinician to the possibility of HSV superinfection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Dermoscopy is useful in the diagnosis of basal cell carcinoma (BCC). However, most descriptions of the dermoscopic features of BCCs are in Caucasians (skin types I-III) and there is a paucity of data in dark-skinned Indian patients. Aims: The aim of this study was to describe the various dermoscopic features of BCC in dark-skinned patients from South India and correlate these with the histopathologic subtypes. Methods: A retrospective observational study of biopsy-proven cases of BCC was conducted at a tertiary care center in South India using nonpolarized contact dermoscopy. Results: Sixty BCCs in 35 patients predominantly of skin phototypes IV or V were studied. These included 32 nodular, 27 superficial and 1 infiltrative type of BCC. The most common dermoscopic features noted were maple leaf-like areas (61.7%), blue-white veils (53.4%), ulceration (48.4%) and short fine telangiectases (46.7%). Ulceration, blue-white veils and arborizing vessels were significantly associated with nodular BCCs, while maple leaf-like areas, red-white structureless areas, multiple small erosions and spoke wheel areas were noted with superficial BCCs. Limitations: The limitations of this study include its retrospective nature, the use of only nonpolarized light for examination, the lack of other histopathological variants of BCC as well as the lack of a comparison group. Conclusion: We report a dermoscopic study of BCC in dark-skinned patients from Puducherry, South India. The blue-white veil was observed in half of the patients and was significantly associated with nodular BCCs. The addition of the blue-white veil to the diagnostic criteria for pigmented BCC could improve the diagnostic accuracy of dermoscopy in Indian patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]