D.D.S.(Diamino-Diphenyl-Sulfone) has been accepted as the first choice in the treatment of leprosy. This compound is relatively toxic but effective in all types of leprosy, and can be used for prolonged periods of time with almost negligible drug resistance and at very low cost. Leprosy is an extraordinarily chronic disease with an exceptionally prolonged incubation period. It is a well accepted practice to use chloroquine for malaria, penicillin for syphilis, and INH for tuberculosis as an agent of chemoprophylaxis. Leprosy is a disease that occurs chiefly among the poorer people in poverty stricken countries. Contacts with leprosy patients, particulary household contacts in such countries, are inevitable. An effective measure of prevention, if any, is greatly to be desired. Lew and Lee(1960) reported the results of the chemoprophylaxis of leprosy contacts with D.D.S. Seven hundred and sixty children born to leprous individuals were divided into two groups, the first group, 325 children, were given D.D.S. 50 - 300 mg. weekly for a period of 7 months to 5 years and the second group, 435 children, were not given any prophylactic measures but observed as controls for a similar period of time. Among the experimental group, the first group of 325 children developed no leprosy, while in the second group 31 children(7.1%) out of 435 developed leprosy. Nine suspicious cases of leprosy with hypopigmented skin patches were identified among the first group of 325 children while they were under preventive medication but those lesions gradually disappeared. Two cases of leprosy, indeterminate group, were identified about two years after stopping medication among the first group of 325 children. Another experiment on chemoprophylaxis is being conducted. In the first group, (experimental group); there were 778 household contacts from 156 bacteriologically positive leprosy patients who have been medicated only with D.D.S. at the leprosy center. The dosage of D.D.S. was paralleled to the dosage of leprosy patients whose maximum dosage was fixed to 400 mg. per week. At present these contacts have been followed for a period of one to seven years. None of leprosy incidences were identified during this observation period among those 778 D.D.S.-medicated contacts. In the second group, (control group); there were 749 individuals who were the household contacts of 160 leprosy patients in Kangwondo province. These contacts were not protected by D.D.S., nor by B.C.G. This group have been followed for the past one to seven year period during which time only the index cases (leprosy patients among the families) were me dicated with D.D.S. Fourty-four cases of leprosy (5.9%) among 749 household contacts were identified from the past 1 to 30 year period. Thirteen (1.7%)out of 44 cases (5.9%) of leprosy among the 749 household contacts were identified during the period of 1 to 7 years observation while there was no leprosy incidence among the D.D.S.-medicated 778 contacts in the first group experiment.
Adolescent ; Child ; Dapsone/*therapeutic use ; Human ; Leprosy/*prevention & control

Pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) is a rare, noninfectious neutrophilic dermatosis. Clinically, it begins with sterile pustules that rapidly progress into painful ulcers of variable depth and size with undermined violaceous borders. The diagnosis of PG is based on the history of an underlying disease, a typical clinical presentation, histopathology, and exclusion of other diseases. The peak incidence occurs between the ages of 20 to 50 years with women being more often affected than men. There have been very few reports of pyoderma gangrenosum with oral mucosal involvement. Oral lesions in previously reported cases have included ulcers of varying sizes from a few mm to several cm and have been reported to have been found on the tongue, soft and hard palate, buccal mucosa, and gingiva. Some of these oral lesions have been associated with ulcerative colitis, inflammatory bowel disease, and polycythemia rubra vera. A few cases were reported with biopsy findings, the histological picture being nonspecific, showing ulceration, and necrosis with inflammatory cell infiltrate. A peculiar case of pyoderma gangrenosum with an oral lesion is presented here, and the differential diagnosis is discussed.
Adult ; Anti-Infective Agents ; therapeutic use ; Chlorhexidine ; therapeutic use ; Dapsone ; therapeutic use ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Female ; Glucocorticoids ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Metronidazole ; therapeutic use ; Oral Ulcer ; drug therapy ; etiology ; pathology ; Prednisolone ; therapeutic use ; Pyoderma Gangrenosum ; complications ; Tooth Mobility ; etiology

No abstract available.
Animal ; Child ; Clinical Trials ; Dapsone/therapeutic use* ; Haplorhini ; Human ; Leprosy/drug therapy* ; Mycobacterium leprae/growth & development ; Sciuridae/microbiology ; Time Factors

INTRODUCTIONThough oral aphthosis is common, it has a significant impact on the quality of life in the patients. It is the most common oral ulcerative condition encountered in clinical practice. This study describes the characteristics and patterns of oral aphthosis seen at a tertiary dermatological centre in Singapore, with emphasis in evaluating the management gaps and in identifying underlying systemic diseases and nutritional deficiencies.

MATERIALS AND METHODSThis is a retrospective review of medical records over a 10-year period between June 2000 and June 2010. Two hundred and thirteen patients were identified using the search terms 'oral ulcers', 'aphthous ulcers', 'oral aphthosis', and 'Behcet's disease'. Patients with Behcet's disease without oral ulcers and other diagnoses such as pemphigus vulgaris, lichen planus and herpes simplex were excluded. The remaining patients were evaluated with regard to demographic characteristics, characteristics of oral ulcers, associated connective tissue disorders and nutritional deficiencies, diagnostic tests results, treatment response as well as follow-up duration.

RESULTSOne hundred and seventy-fi ve patients were included in this study. One hundred and one patients had recurrent oral aphthosis, with 77 having simple aphthosis and 24 having complex aphthosis. Fourteen patients (8%) fulfilled the International Study Criteria (ISG) for Behcet's disease, of which, 85.71% had complex aphthosis. The therapeutic ladder for such patients ranged from topical steroids and colchicine through to oral corticosteroids and/or dapsone therapy.

CONCLUSIONRecurrent oral aphthosis is a niche condition in which dermatologists are well-poised to manage. This study demonstrates that a more definitive management and therapeutic algorithm for oral aphthosis are needed for better management patients in the future. In particular, complex aphthosis needs to be monitored for progression onto Behcet's disease.

Adolescent ; Adrenal Cortex Hormones ; therapeutic use ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Anti-Infective Agents ; therapeutic use ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents ; therapeutic use ; Behcet Syndrome ; complications ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Colchicine ; therapeutic use ; Dapsone ; therapeutic use ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Stomatitis, Aphthous ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; etiology ; Treatment Outcome ; Tubulin Modulators ; therapeutic use ; Young Adult

Methemoglobin (MetHb) is an oxidation product of hemoglobin in which the sixth coordination position of ferric iron is bound to a water molecule or to a hydroxyl group. The most common cause of acquired MetHb-emia is accidental poisoning which usually is the result of ingestion of water containing nitrates or food containing nitrite, and sometimes the inhalation or ingestion of butyl or amyl nitrite used as an aphrodisiac. We herein report a case of MetHb-emia after ingestion of an aphrodisiac, later identified as dapsone by gas chromatograph/mass selective detector (GC/MSD). A 24-year old male was admitted due to cyanosis after ingestion of a drug purchased as an aphrodisiac. On arterial blood gas analysis, pH was 7.32, PaCO2 26.8 mmHg, PaO2 75.6 mmHg, and bicarbonate 13.9 mmol/L. Initial pulse oxymetry was 89%. With 3 liter of nasal oxygen supplement, oxygen saturation was increased to 90-92%, but cyanosis did not disappear. Despite continuous supplement of oxygen, cyanosis was not improved. On the fifth hospital day, MetHb was 24.9%. Methylene blue was administered (2 mg/kg intravenously) and the patient rapidly improved. We proved the composition of aphrodisiac as dapsone by the method of GC/MSD.
Administration, Oral ; Adult ; Antidotes/therapeutic use ; Aphrodisiacs/adverse effects* ; Case Report ; Cyanosis/drug therapy ; Cyanosis/chemically induced ; Cyanosis/blood ; Dapsone/adverse effects* ; Human ; Male ; Methemoglobinemia/drug therapy ; Methemoglobinemia/chemically induced* ; Methylene Blue/therapeutic use

OBJECTIVETo analyze the trends of case detection and other indicators of leprosy in China during 1985-2002.

METHODSData reported by each province were collected by China National Leprosy Database in Nanjing P.R. China. All data about registered cases were put into computer for analysis.

RESULTSFrom 1985 to 2002, a total of 49,477 new leprosy cases had been detected. Among them, 69.5% were multibacillary cases and 25.4% had grade 2 disability. The child cases aged below 15 years accounted for 3.74% of total cases. Totally, 5824 cases and 303 cases relapsed after dapsone (DDS) mono-therapy and multidrug therapy (MDT), respectively. Case detection showed a marked reduction from 0.47/100,000 in 1985 to 0.18/100,000 in 1993 although there were several spurts due to operational factors. From 1994, case detection showed no significant decline. The grade 2 disability among new patients decreased from 31.4% in 1985 to 23.4% in 2002. The child case detection rate among new cases fluctuated between 2.70%-3.56% from 1999 to 2002. The incidence of relapse declined after the introduction of DDS mono-therapy. However, it increased after the introduction of MDT.

CONCLUSIONChina experiences in leprosy control show that it will take a long time with continuing present leprosy control activities to bring down the case detection and other indicators to a very low level even after reaching the elimination goal of leprosy.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Factors ; Child ; China ; epidemiology ; Communicable Disease Control ; trends ; Dapsone ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Disability Evaluation ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Humans ; Incidence ; Leprostatic Agents ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Leprosy ; drug therapy ; epidemiology ; prevention & control ; Recurrence

INTRODUCTIONA 22-year-old Malay soldier developed dapsone hypersensitivity syndrome 12 weeks after taking maloprim (dapsone 100 mg/pyrimethamine 12.5 mg) for anti-malarial prophylaxis.

CLINICAL PICTUREHe presented with fever, rash, lymphadenopathy and multiple-organ involvement including serositis, hepatitis and thyroiditis. Subsequently, he developed congestive heart failure with a reduction in ejection fraction on echocardiogram, and serum cardiac enzyme elevation consistent with a hypersensitivity myocarditis.

TREATMENTMaloprim was discontinued and he was treated with steroids, diuretics and an angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitor.

OUTCOMEHe has made a complete recovery with resolution of thyroiditis and a return to normal ejection fraction 10 months after admission.

CONCLUSIONIn summary, we report a case of dapsone hypersensitivity syndrome with classical symptoms of fever, rash and multi-organ involvement including a rare manifestation of myocarditis. To our knowledge, this is the first case of dapsone-related hypersensitivity myocarditis not diagnosed in a post-mortem setting. As maloprim is widely used for malaria prophylaxis, clinicians need to be aware of this unusual but potentially serious association.

Abdominal Pain ; drug therapy ; Adult ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Biopsy ; Dapsone ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Drug Hypersensitivity ; complications ; pathology ; Echocardiography ; Electrocardiography, Ambulatory ; Fever ; drug therapy ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Myocarditis ; diagnosis ; etiology ; Radiography, Thoracic ; Skin ; pathology ; Thyrotoxicosis ; diagnosis ; etiology