The value of etiological tests and skin biopsy in the management of prurigo simplex subacuta

It has been emphasized that prurigo simplex subacuta may be associatedwith various disorders and may be clinically confused with dermatitis herpetiformis.Aim of the study was to evaluate the value of our set of tests for findingpossible associations and for the aforementioned differential diagnosis. Rates ofimplementations and abnormal results in our set of tests, including skin prick test,skin biopsy, complete blood count, blood chemistry panel, and psychiatric evaluationwere analyzed retrospectively between the years of 2010 and 2015 in 130patients clinically diagnosed with prurigo simplex subacuta. The set of tests wasimplemented completely in 43.8% patients and with only a single missing test in31.5% of the patients. The least implemented procedure was psychiatric evaluation(66.9%). The most commonly found issues were psychiatric abnormalities (55.2%of 87 psychiatrically evaluated patients) and atopy (53.8% of 104 skin prick testedpatients). The most common finding suggestive of internal diseases was hyperglycemia(25.4% of 130 patients). It was a striking result that hematological malignancieswere suspected upon complete blood count and peripheral blood smear andconfirmed by further investigations in 4 of 102 patients. Dermatitis herpetiformiswas diagnosed in 2 of 120 skin biopsied patients. Because of the substantial rate ofimplementation, the high frequencies of psychiatric abnormalities and atopy, anddetection of hematological malignancies and dermatitis herpetiformis ...
Source: Acta Dermatovenerologica Croatica - Category: Dermatology Source Type: research