Eye Lash Alopecia

The patient is an eight year old girl who has had a dermatitis of her eyelid margins off an on for around a year. She gets crusted areas which itch and her mother feels she plucks her eyelashes. On the day of the visit the lids looked quiet, but there was definite loss of some eyelashes. There is some evidence of broken lashes.Question:Is this eyelash trichotillomania or isolated alopecia areata of the eyelashes? I favor trichotillomaniaWhat...

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Bed Bugs

This 35 year-old man went to Mamaronek, New York to watch the New York Open Golf Championship last weekend. The closest motel room he could find was in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The latter is a city with a fairly poor reputation. Two days after returning home to Massachusetts he developed the lesions pictured here on arms and to a lesser extend on torso and legs.They are consistent with bedbug bites (Cimex lenticularis). For a brief description...

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Lyme Disease

This 52 year-old woman presented as a walk-in patient today. She has a five day history of an erythematous nodule on the right shoulder which has developed a ring around it. The ring measures 9 by 11 centimeters in diameter. Initially, the nodule was painful for a few days; but the pain has subsided. She has had no fever or constutional symptoms and has continued to work as a school teacher.The patient lives in rural New Hampshire and gardens...

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Erosio interdigitalis blastomycetica

Why do dermatologists love these cumbersome terms??The patient is a 30 yo woman with a two week history of a sore area between the 3rd and 4th toes of the left foot. She is in good general health. Not pregnant and on no oral contraceptives. Both parents have Type II diabetes. At the time of onset she was on doxycycline for rosacea.The examination shows an erosion in the toe web. The KOH prep was positive for pseudohyphae consistent with the...

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