This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Jean Revuz; Jean-Claude Roujeau; Jean-Claude Guillaume
Department of Dermatology Hôpital Henri Mondor 94010 Creteil France

Arch Dermatol. 1985;121(4):449-450.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

In the July 1984 issue, Shalev et al¹ described a rapidly spreading superficial ulceration following surgery for acute appendicitis in a patient with acute myeloblastic leukemia.

The clinical aspect of the lesion as shown in Fig 3 suggests postoperative progressive gangrene (PPG). It closely resembles the illustrations in the article by Hutchinson et al² on PPG. A rare condition, PPG is also known as Meleney's synergistic gangrene, which is characterized by a superficial spreading ulceration following an operation. The disorder usually involves the chest or the abdominal wall and begins on the surgical scar, as in the patient described by Shalev et al. It is associated with fever. If the disease is not controlled, deterioration of the patient's general status may lead to death.

The cause and treatment are matter for debate. Hutchinson et al,² assuming that microaerophilic streptococci were responsible for the PPG, . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?