A prospective study of childhood psoriasis revealed an overall prevalence of 0. I% among the general skin diseases outpatients; 8.5 % of the Indian psoriatics having onset of their disease during childhood. The peak age of onset was between 4 and 8 years and the mean age of onset in the males was lower than the females by approximately 2 years. Family history was positive in 12.5%. Plaque variety was the commonest and guttate lesions were observed in only 25% of the cases, Itching was a promin ' ent feature of guttate lesions which were observed to be preceded in 50% of the patients by throat infection. The commonest sites were the legs, arms and the trunk. The face was involved more often than the scalp, the commonest site of affection in the adults. Nails were involved in more than 60% of the cases. The therapeutic response to coal tar treatment was satisfactory and the guttatc lesions responded well to treatmentwith penicillin. The pustularand erythrodermic varieties and psoriatic arthritis were rare in the paediatric patients.

Hemodialysis has proved to be a welcome addition to the various already known therapeutic modalities in the treatment of psoriasis. The procedure was attempted in 12 patients with chronic plaque psoriasis recalcitrant to conventional treatment There was a dramatic improvements in IO ofthe 12 patients.,The lesions started clearing as early as 2-4 days following first hemodialysis and most patients required 3-4 hemodialysis to be free of lesions. The remission could be maintained for as long as 9 months after the last dialysis. The possible mechanism of induction of remission due to hemodialysis is discussed.

Topical or oral administration of photoactive furocumarins followed by exposure to ultra violet light from artificial sources has been shown previously to clear psoriatic lesions. Sunlight has been chosen as the source of UVL m two separate paired comparison studies using topical and, oral 4,5, 8 trimethylpsoralen. Two out of 21 on topical therapy and none out of 6 patients on oral paired-comparison study showed faster clearance of the drug treated lesions compared to control sites.

A total of 24 patients with untreated tuberculoid leprosy were taken up for study, They were the same group of patients in whom the authors have earlier reported involvement of liver in 85 % cases. Five healthy controls, studied also belonged to the same series. Liver function tests included prothrombin time, serum bilirubin, zinc sulphate turbidity, serum proteins and serum transaminases. No significant alterations in the liver function were observed. This is because the changes in the liver were so minimal and focal that they were not reflected in the various liver function tests.

Eighty early syphilis patients were studied in detail regarding theirage, sourceof infection, occupation, education, marital status, income and previous venereal infection. Incidence of sexually transmitted disease was 27% of which 26.6% cases had early syphilis. Male to female incidence was 10.4:1. In males, 27.4% and 30.2% were in the teenage and young adult (2024 years) groups respectively. Among males 60.3% were unmarried, while 32.8% were married. Widowers and divorcees constituted the rest. Prostitutes and homesexuals were the major sources of infection in 45.2% and 27.4% males respectively. 52% were from low socio-economic class, 26% from middle income group while no patient was from high socioeconomic status. 21.9% were from no income group. 63.2% were labourers, 17.8% unemployed and 4.2% students. 60.5 % were illiterate and 15.3 % cases had other associated sexually transmitted diseases. 32.8% had history of past venereal infection. Among females 4 (57- I%) acquired infection from their husbands: 1 (14.3%) had middle school education, 2 (28.6%) had other associated STD and none had history of past venereal infection.

A clinical trial with Cotaryl cream was undertaken on 60 patients suffering from various hyperkeratotic skin conditions, attending the Skin & VD outdoor from 1st March, 1977 to 28th February, 1978. Main constituent of Cotaryl Cream is 12% urea and it is known for its antipruritic, keratolytic, hygroscopic and antibacterial action. Our results were very encouraging and results were recorded as excellent in 11 patients, good in 25, moderate in 15, poor in 7. No response was observed in two patients. Only two patients experienced untoward effects such as mild erythema and burning sensation over the exposed areas. 60% patients had excellent to good results.

A clinical investigation with a pediculicide preparation containing tetralin + copper oleate as active ingredients was conducted and its therapeutic effect was compared with a preparation containing benzyl benzoate + DDT The study was conducted on 50 patients with pediculosis capitis/corporis/pubis; in a skin out patient department of public hospital in Bombay. They were grouped into two groups of 25 patients each. In each group, 21 hadpediculosisca pitis, 3 had pediculosis corporis and one had pediculosis publs. Preparation containing tetralin + copper oleate was effective in all the patients and one application was enough in majority of patients to kill both lice and nits. However 4 patients (i.e. 16%) showed recurrence within 7 days of stopping treatment, which was probably due to reinfection as they were found to be cured on 7th day's examination. Medication containing benzyl benzoate + DDT was also effective in all cases but more than one application was necessary in majority of patients. Hence the duration of therapy was prolonged. Recurrence was noted in 8 patients within a week (i.e. 32%) after stopping treatment. The chief advantage of preparation containing tetralin + copper oleate lies in its comparative effectiveness from a treatment of only 15 minutes duration. It was interesting enough to find this preparation effective in pediculosis with mild secondary infection without the use of antibiotics or chemodierapeutic agent like sulphonamides, in contrast to preparation containing benzyl benzoate + DDT which by itself had no beneficial effect in presence of secondary infection. However, a clinical trial on larger number of cases is necessary for confirmation.

Thiacetazone has been used as a standard antituberculous drug in several countries. Side effect& which include various VM of skin eruptions have been observed in about 10% of patients taking thiacetazone. We are reporting two' cases of lichen planus-like lesions presumably due to thiacetazone. Of these, one case had preexisting lichen planus hypertrophicus but the other one, did not have any past history of lichen planus.

A case of cutaneous sarcoidosis is reported and discussed. There was associated lung and liver

Bacillary index (BI) and morphological index (MI) in lymph nodes, have been studied in 30 patients with various types of leprosy by lymph node aspiration and impression smears, This comparatively safer, less traumatising out patient procedure, already established for the study of malignant cytology is recommended as a better alternative to the more time consuming and painful lymph node excision biopsy technique for the study of viability of lepra bacilli (MI) in patients undergoing anti-leprosy treatment.

Analysis of 493 consecutive cases of urticaria investigated over a period of 2 years revealed that the cause of urticaria was cholinergic in 51 (10.3%) cases, cold in 46(9.3%), dermographism in 20(4.1%), pressure in 3(0.6%), drugs in 17 (3.4%), inhalants in 38(7.7%), foods in 34(6.9%), infestations in 7(1.4%) and bacterial foci in 27(5.5%). This accounts for 49.2% of the total cases. A large majority of the remaining cases did not report the outcome of the investigative procedures advised, but there were 13 cases who could not be classified inspite of all the tests being currently employed by us.