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Background and Objective: Diagnosis of vibratory urticaria/angioedema is established after performing the vortex provocation test. There is current consensus on measuring the forearm perimeter after running such test to define a positive response to it., Material and Method: We evaluated the frequency of prior symptoms following vibratory stimuli in volunteers using a questionnaire, response to the vortex provocation test in the same volunteers (increase in forearm perimeter, erythema, localized edema, heat, and pruritus), interrater reliability, and correlation between the scores obtained in the questionnaire and response to the test., Results: A total of 40 volunteers participated in this survey, 17 of whom were excluded due to dermographism. A total of 59% out of 123 without dermographism responded positively to ≥ 1 items of the questionnaire. Localized erythema, heat or localized edema were reported in 58.5%, 38.2%, and 32.5%, respectively. A total of 73.6% of volunteers presented with itch. The mean intensity of itch was 3.44 (95%CI, 2.94-3.94). Interrater agreement was low regarding the increase in forearm circumference at 3 levels (intraclass correlation coefficient, 0.477 95%CI, 0.253-0.634; 0.496 95%CI, 0.280-0.647; and 0.370 95%CI, 0.100-0.559, respectively) and optimal regarding erythema, heat and localized edema (Kappa index, 0.868; .756; and .757, respectively). A significant correlation was identified between the questionnaire score and the altered response to the test in its different variables., Conclusions: We propose the following variables: erythema; localized edema; heat; and the intensity/speed of onset/duration of pruritus to define a positive response to the vortex provocation test given their ease of execution and optimal inter-observer agreement., (Copyright © 2024. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U.)

After the meeting held by the Spanish Contact Dermatitis and Skin Allergy Research Group (GEIDAC) back in October 2021, changes were suggested to the Spanish Standard Series patch testing. Hydroxyethyl methacrylate (2% pet.), textile dye mixt (6.6% pet.), linalool hydroperoxide (1% pet.), and limonene hydroperoxide (0.3% pet.) were, then, added to the series that agreed upon in 2016. Ethyldiamine and phenoxyethanol were excluded. Methyldibromoglutaronitrile, the mixture of sesquiterpene lactones, and hydroxyisohexyl 3-cyclohexene (Lyral) were also added to the extended Spanish series of 2022., (Copyright © 2024 AEDV. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Median arcuate ligament syndrome, also known as celiac artery compression syndrome, is a rare and unusual clinical disorder. Its symptoms are non-specific, which complicates its diagnosis, and a multidisciplinary approach is required to treat the disorder. The ligament is circumferentially cleared by laparoscopy. Selective angiography and endovascular techniques may be used after laparoscopy. Vital organs and important vascular structures can be injured during the surgery. The combination of different procedures, as well as the high risk of damage, make this process a significant challenge for the anaesthetist. During corrective surgery for median arcuate ligament syndrome, general anaesthesia must be adapted to the various haemodynamic and ventilatory requirements, and strict control of pain established, as oral tolerance is a key factor in the post-operative recovery of these patients., (Copyright © 2018 Sociedad Española de Anestesiología, Reanimación y Terapéutica del Dolor. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Background: Numerous studies have evaluated the use of ultraviolet-C devices for terminal disinfection in hospitals, however, to date there is little information about the device's final impact on patients. We investigated the effect of an ultraviolet air sterilizer (UVAS) on the clinical outcomes of cardiac surgery patients., Materials and Methods: This random, prospective and non-interventional study included 1097 adult patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery: 522 stayed in an ICU room with UVAS (Medixair ® ) and 575 patients ICU room without UVAS and were used as a control. The primary outcome measure was to evaluate the effect of a UVAS on the overall prevalence of nosocomial infections in postoperative cardiac patients in ICUs., Results: No significant differences in ventilator-associated pneumonia (4.6% vs. 5.0%, p=0.77) and total infection (14.0% vs. 15.5%, p=0.45) rates were detected in patients with and without the UVAS. The length of stay in the intensive care unit and at the hospital was similar in both groups, UVAS (4.6 (8.2) days and 18.3 (5.5) days) and without UVAS (4.6 (7.3) days and 19.2 (18.6) days). The 30-day in-hospital mortality rate was 5.3%, no significant differences between groups were observed (p=0.053)., Conclusion: Novel ultraviolet-C technology has not been shown to significantly reduce nosocomial infections or mortality rates in cardiac surgery patients., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Lidocaine is one of the most widely used local anesthetics. It can be administered topically or parenterally. Allergic contact dermatitis from lidocaine is uncommon, but an increasing number of cases have been reported in recent years. We present the case of a 66-year-old man who presented with acute dermatitis on the pinna and left cheek after applying ear drops. Patch tests were positive for the product itself and for lidocaine in the ear drops, thereby confirming the diagnosis of contact dermatitis from lidocaine.

In the last years new and numerous materials for the correction of defects and wrinkles have been developed. One of these materials is Bio-Alcamid, a non reabsorbable gel polymer constituted by meshes of poly-alkyl-imide, without known adverse effects. We report a 34-year-old woman that had Bio-Alcamid implants for acne scars and several months after presented nodular lesions together with a painful inflammatory nodule. The nodule was drained and culture of the purulent material yielded Streptococcus viridans. A cytology and a cellular block of that material showed a granulomatous inflammatory reaction together with a foreign body. The different types of reactions to implants and their pathogenic mechanism are discussed. It is important to know these possible reactions to filler materials given their increasing use and the potential medico-legal consequences.

Introduction: Atypical fibroxanthoma (AFX) is a rare tumor of unknown histogenesis, considered by most authorities as a superficial form of malignant fibrous histiocytoma (MFH). The aim of this work is to report the clinicopathological features of 10 cases of AFX., Material and Methods: Data were retrospectively collected of the computerized medical history. Clinical (age, onset-diagnosis time, location, accompanying pathology, outcome), histological (architectural pattern, cell type, ulceration, vascular or perineural invasion, subcutis involvement, pleomorphism, mitosis, inflammatory infiltrate) and immunohistochemical variable were analyzed., Cases Report: Clinical and epidemiological features coincide with those previously reported: onset late in life, short time onset-diagnosis, involvement of skin with notable sun damage and a good outcome. Pathologically all the cases showed a spindle-cell prevalence arranged in a vaguely storiform pattern, along with both, multinucleated and eosinophilic cells., Discussion: The diagnosis of AXF is always of exclusion. Other spindle-cell tumors such as squamous cell carcinoma, malignant melanoma, leyomiosarcoma or dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans must be ruled out by immunohistochemical techniques. In spite of its rarity, the recognition of AFX is important in order to avoid inappropriately aggressive treatment.

A 42-year-old male patient suffers an acute hepatitis with positive HBs Ag and approximately 2 months after its onset, an acute polyneuritis with lessening of conduction velocity and albumino-cytologic dissociation appeared. Both conditions recuperated synchronously in a few months. This association has been only slightly referred to previously, and the majority of cases lacked facts important to the establishment of a diagnosis. The polyneuritis is possibly secondary to the viral alteration, either directly or due to an ensuing immunological alteration. Besides, there is the possibility that a clinical or sub-clinical demyelinizing neuropathy that does not fill the criteria of a Guillain-Barré syndrome may complicate a hepatitis, or that an acute polyneuritis may associate itself to an autoimmune hepatitis.