Leishmaniasis or psoriasis? A differential diagnosis

Revista Cubana de Medicina Tropical

Blanco González, Orestes¹  Capó de Paz, Virginia¹  Monzote Fidalgo, Lianet¹  Montalvo Alvarez, Ana Margarita¹  Fraga Nodarse, Jorge¹ 

[1] Instituto de Medicina Tropical Pedro Kourí, La Habana, Cuba

关键词: Leishmania;    leishmaniasis;    psoriasis;    diagnosis;   

DOI  :  

学科分类：传染病学

来源: SciELO

【 摘 要 】

Introduction: leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease caused by several species of the genus Leishmania. The disease presents in a great variety of clinical forms. Psoriatic leishmaniasis has occasionally been reported among the cutaneous forms of the disease. Diagnostic certainty of the condition is indispensable, given the toxicity and side effects of the first line drugs used to treat it. Several methods are applied to reach an accurate diagnosis. These range from identification of the parasite in the tissue to detection of its DNA.Methods: data from a clinical case with suspected leishmaniasis were collected and analyzed. Various laboratory methods were applied to define the diagnosis, among them direct parasitological examination, histopathological examination, culture and polymerase chain reaction (PCR-18S and PCR-hsp70).Results and discussion: the tests performed to confirm the diagnosis of leishmaniasis were all negative. Histological examination diagnosed the dermatological lesion as psoriasis.Conclusions: very few cases of psoriatic leishmaniasis have been reported in the scientific literature. Comprehensive examination of the case by various methods ruled out the presence of leishmaniasis, allowing the application of the appropriate treatment and thus avoiding the inappropriate use of antimonials.

【 授权许可】

Unknown