Cutaneous lesions are a part of common manifestation in multi-systemic sarcoidosis and skin involvement occurs in 20% to 35% of the patients with systemic disease. An exclusive cutaneous involvement is rare and it is reported in about 4%-5% of the patients of sarcoidosis. These lesions have been classified into specific and non-specific, depending on the presence of non- caseating granulomas, o...

Tuberculosis, once thought to have been controlled, is now resurgent in many parts of the world. Many gaps exist in understanding the pathogenesis of tuberculosis, especially secondary and cavitary disease. Evidence presented here suggests that cord factor (trehalose 6,6'-dimycolate, TDM) is a key driver of these processes. It is the most abundant lipid released by virulent M. tuberculosis (MTB...

IMPORTANCE Cutaneous sarcoidosis can present in pre-existing tattoos. Previous reports suggest modest improvement with systemic or topical corticosteroids or other immunomodulating medications. Tetracyclines have anti-inflammatory properties and have been shown to be efficacious in non-tattoo associated cutaneous sarcoidosis. The pharmacology of minocycline suggests that its higher concentratio...

Mycobacterium tuberculosis exists exclusively as a pathogen of humans and in some cases of animals. It is not thought to exist in the environment other than for brief periods during transfer from an infected host to an uninfected contact. Thus M. tuberculosis must adapt to an in vivo environment by modifying gene expression. Differential expression can occur in immune cells such as macrophages,...

Eight patients with sarcoidosis seen at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, during the past 10 years were reviewed. Five of the eight patients came from non-metropolitan areas. The major presenting symptoms were cough, fatigue and weight loss; peripheral lymphadenopathy and hepatomegaly were common. None of the patients had eye or central nervous system involvement. Seven patients had bil...

Sarcoidosis is a systemic, chronic disease of unknown etiology that is characterized by non-caseating granulomas in any tissue. Impairment of cellular immunity is known to play a major role in this disease. Humoral abnormalities such as the occasional presence of anti double-stranded DNA (antids DNA), antinuclear antibody (ANA) and rheumatoid factor (RF) have also been observed in patients with...

We report on a 29-year-old Pakistani man who presented to the clinic with epigastric pain, of one-month duration. He did not report fever, cough, vomiting blood, passing black stools, loss of appetite or diarrhea. However, he had lost 7 kg since his symptoms had begun. Clinical examination was unremarkable. Laboratory results were within normal limits. An abdominal CT scan showed a mass with en...

A 30-year-old, HIV-negative female, who had never smoked, was referred for evaluation of lung metastasis. She had abdominal pain, occasional fever and weight loss for 3 months. Progressive breathlessness was present for 15 days. Her physical examination was unremarkable. Chest radiography (figure 1) showed bilateral nodular opacities with indistinct margins in all the lung zones. Computed tomog...

BACKGROUND Intestinal tuberculosis is a common problem in endemic areas, causing considerable morbidity and mortality. An isolated primary caecal perforation of tubercular origin is exceptionally uncommon. CASE PRESENTATION We report the case of a 39 year old male who presented with features of perforation peritonitis, which on laparotomy revealed a caecal perforation with a dusky appendix. A...

During human latent tuberculosis (TB) infection, dormant bacilli putatively reside within the hypoxic environment of caseating lung granulomas. The anaerobic drug metronidazole has antituberculous activity under hypoxic conditions in vitro but lacks activity against murine TB. In the present study, we used the hypoxia marker pimonidazole to demonstrate the presence of hypoxia in a novel in vivo...