A 51 Year old man, was taking captopril 200 mg daily' for the management of essential hypertension. Twenty two days after starting captopril, he developed flaccid vescicles and bullae over his scalp, face, trunk and mucous membranes of the mouth. Clinical and histopathological features were consistent with the diagnosis of pemphigus vulgaris' Complete disappearance of the skin lesions within. 15 days of withdrawing the drug and absence of any recurrences in one year follow-up suggest that captopril was the probable offending drug.

A case of lipoid proteinosis presented with multiple papular lesions on the face and hoarseness of voice from early infancy. Five sibs of the patient were affected and one had died early in infancy, probably because of laryngeal obstruction.

A Variant of acrokerato elastoidosis characterized by linear, scaly, hyperkeratotic, fissured and transluscent papules on sides of thumbs and index fingers, was seen in 55 male patients, above the age, of fifty years. Actinic damage and repeated trauma were not evident. The term acrokerato - elastodosis linearis manus is suggested for this variant.

A case of inchthosis linearis circumflexa occurring in the same family having classical migratory polycyclic skin lesion and flexural hyperkeratosis since infancy of ichthyosis linearis circumflexa multiple serpiginous polycyclic acteristic double edged scales. The patient had unusual features like pruritus and thickening of the plams and soles. One younger sib of the patient appeared to have lamellar ichtyosis. The response to therapy was not satisfactory.

A case of cutaneous periarteritis , nodosa had swelling and intense pain on right. lower leg followed by bullae. Incision of bullae resulted in chronic ulcers with peripheral, indurated,vialaceus discoloration, livido reticularis and multiple nodules.

Six cases of Thevenard syndrome presented as trophic ulcers on the toes with shortening and loss of pain and temperature sensations. Four cases had spina-bifida out of which two cases had associated faun-tail and one case had hypertrophy of the lower extremity of one side.

Forty cases of granuloma inguinale in 26 males and 14 females were studied. The predominant age group was 17 to 20 years in both the sexes. The duration of disease varied from 20 days to 2 years. Ganitals alone were involved in 75% cases. Four cases haJ extra-genital lesions. Thrity cases had ulcero-vegetative type of lesions. No metastatic lesions were detected.

Patch tests were undertaken with 16 condiments in 4 groups of patients which included exposed patients, exposed controls, unexposed patients and unexposed controls. As the interpretation of the positive patch test reaction was similar in both the unexposed patients and unexposed controls, these two were combined into one (unexposed groups). Positive reactions were obtained in a variable number of individuals in each of these groups but the tests were generally more frequently positive and more severe in the exposed patients and exposed controls, compared to the unexposed groups. The number of patients showing positive patch tests out of the total number tested in the 3 groups respectively, with each of the agents were, cinnamon 1 (9), 0 (11), 1 (7): coriander 3 (8), 4 (12), 1 (5); clove 2 (8), 3 (16), 0 (1); cumin seeds 3 (8), 4 (11), 1 (6); fennel 3 (9), 4 (16), 0 (1); small cardamom 1 (8),6 (17), 0 (0); large cardamom 3 (8) 3 (11), 0 (7); asafoetida 1 (5), 3 (7), 5 (13); Indian cassia 0 (2), 3 (16), 1 (8); mustard seeds 5 (8), 4 (15) 0 (2); red chillies 2 (7), 6 (21), 0 (0); turmeric 3 (6), 8 (15) 1 (5); tamarind 0 (3), 0 (6), 3 (16); dried mango powder 0 (2), 3 (6), 1 (17); Jaggery 0 (1), 2 (4), 2 (20) and ginger 7 (22), 0 (4), 0 (0). These were considered unikely to be irritant reactions, because in the case of irritant reactions, the frequency of positive reaction is expected to be much more. However, this could not be excluded completely without further studies with standardized antigens and their dilutions.

Cyclic administration of a combination of cyproterone acetate and ethinyl oestradiol in 30 female acne patients led to a significant decrease of the cutaneous sebum excretion rate (SER) as assessed by the modified gravimetric technique. The mean percent reduction was 36.42 + 3. 07 at the end of 6 months, and, it remained reduced even after a treatment free period of 3 month. In comparison, tetracycline treated patients showed a slight rise in the SER that returned to near baseline values 3 months after cessation of the drug.

Twenty four patients having pemphigus vulgaris were treated with combined drug therapy consisting of oral prednisolone 1 mg per Kg body weight, cyclophosphamide 2.5 mg per Kg body weight and methotrexate 2.5 mg biweekly. The drugs were gradually tapered off to achieve a minimum maintainence dose of 10-15 mg prednisolone on alternate days at the end of 2 years of observation. The age groups of patients varied from 15 to 78 years. Maximum cases were between 31 to 50 years. There were 15 males and 9 females. T he duration of disease varied from 4 months to over 36 months at the time of reporting. Number of episodes recorded at the time of first presentation were one episodes in 6( 25%) and mutiple episodes in 18 (75%). The period of observation varied from 6 months to 27 months. Two patients relapsed at the time of observation. There has been remarkable response to treatment in the form of quick recovery from lesions without any significant side effects.

One hundred and fifty children having impetigo were investigated bacteriologically. Pure growth of staphylococcus aureus was found in 92 children, Streptococcus pyogenes in 39 children and both organisms were isolated in 19 children. Forty four per cent Staphylococcus aureus and 82% Streptococcus pyogenes were sensitive to penicillin. One hundred children were treated with injection benzathine penicillin and fifty cases treated with oral tablet sulfamoxole. Benzathine pencillin was effective in 92.3% cases irrespective of whether the staphylococci and streptococci isolated were sensitive to penicillin or not. Sulfamoxole therapy was effective in 64% children.

A retrospective clinical analysis of 66 patients with various bullous disorders seen over a period of 5 years in Benghazi, Libya showed that pemphigus vulgaris was the commonest disorder followed by buuous' petaphigoid. Other bullous dermatoses were rare. The clinical picture and treatment schedule with follow up of some patient is presented.

Survey of 115 silk workers near Guwahati (Assam) for their dermatologic problems revealed important differences from the problem faced by the silk workers in Bangalore (Karnataka). Prevalence of the two major dermatoses, maceratin and pitted keratolysis occurring in 51.8% and 37.5% of the workers at Bangalore, was seen in only 2.6% and 6.1% of the Assam workers. This is possibly due to the fact that at Guwahati the silk work is a cottage industry and every worker works in short spells of time rather than continuous 8 hour duty as at Bangalore.

A Chinese lady, fourth in a family of four unaffected brothers and six sisters affected with epidermodysplasia verruciformis was treated with aromatic retinoid (Etretinate) when she developed multiple recurrent squamous as well as basal cell carcinomas. Etretinate was effective in preventing the occurrence of cutaneous malignancies.

A 21 year old male was seen with typical oculo-dento-digital dysplasia. However, photophobia and corneal turbidity were additional features in our patient. These have not been reported earlier.