B Kumar1, K Sandhu. 1. Department of Dermatology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh 160012, India. kumarbhushan@hotmail.com
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To establish the efficacy of antitubercular therapy in patients with erythema nodosum with a highly positive Mantoux test. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of all patients diagnosed with idiopathic erythema nodosum with a highly positive Mantoux reaction between 1988 and 2001 was undertaken. In the absence of any other clinical or investigative evidence of active tuberculosis they were treated with antitubercular therapy. RESULTS: Out of a total of 52 patients diagnosed with idiopathic erythema nodosum with a strongly positive Mantoux test (average of 19 mm), data could be analyzed in only 47 patients. After treatment with antitubercular drugs, new lesions stopped appearing in 45 patients within 6-8 weeks and subsided in two. The therapy was well tolerated except for jaundice in one patient and transient urticarial lesions in another. CONCLUSIONS: Antitubercular therapy definitely has a role in the management of patients with erythema nodosum, even in the absence of a detectable focus of tubercular infection, especially in regions where tuberculosis is endemic.
OBJECTIVE: To establish the efficacy of antitubercular therapy in patients with erythema nodosum with a highly positive Mantoux test. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of all patients diagnosed with idiopathic erythema nodosum with a highly positive Mantoux reaction between 1988 and 2001 was undertaken. In the absence of any other clinical or investigative evidence of active tuberculosis they were treated with antitubercular therapy. RESULTS: Out of a total of 52 patients diagnosed with idiopathic erythema nodosum with a strongly positive Mantoux test (average of 19 mm), data could be analyzed in only 47 patients. After treatment with antitubercular drugs, new lesions stopped appearing in 45 patients within 6-8 weeks and subsided in two. The therapy was well tolerated except for jaundice in one patient and transient urticarial lesions in another. CONCLUSIONS: Antitubercular therapy definitely has a role in the management of patients with erythema nodosum, even in the absence of a detectable focus of tubercular infection, especially in regions where tuberculosis is endemic.
Authors: Karen Bjorn-Mortensen; Karin Ladefoged; Jacob Simonsen; Sascha W Michelsen; Hans Christian F Sørensen; Anders Koch; Troels Lillebaek; Aase Bengaard Andersen; Bolette Soborg Journal: Int J Circumpolar Health Date: 2016-10-25 Impact factor: 1.228