Accentuation of ichthyosis vulgaris due to associated leprosy.

THE word ichthyosis is derived from the Greek word Ichthys meaning a fish. Patients with ichthyosis exhibit prominent scales occurring more or less diffusely all over the body. Usually the scales are large and centrally adherent with loose edges. Ichthyosis is a disorder of keratinization. Ichthyosis forms a group of genodermatoses transmitted by autosomal dominant or, as recently shown by Wells & Jennings (1967), as an X-linked recessive trait. Apart from being commonly associated with atopy, ichthyosis vulgaris is a manifestation of many syndromes, viz. Refsum's syndrome (Refsum, 1946; Refsum, Solomonsen & Skatvedt, 1949), Sj6gren-Larsson syndrome (Sjogren & Larsscn, 1957), Sonneck syndrome (Sonneck, 1952), and Rud syndrome (Rud, 1927). Ichthyosis is also reported to be associated with mental deficiency (Laubenthal, 1939), acrofacial dysostosis (Korting & Ruther, 1954), ectropion (Forsius, 1949), cataract (Pinkerton, 1958) and other eye defects (Taussig, 1939) and alopecia (Marzollo, 1936). We here present a case of ichthyosis vulgaris associated with leprosy. Such an association has not been reported in literature so far. However the development of ichthyosiform changes of the skin has been reported in cases of leprosy in Africa (Schulz, 1965). Interestingly, there was a marked increase in the ichthyotic scales in the anaesthetic patches of leprosy in the present case.