720 iVieetings of Internationai interest 7 Mol CJ, Gaver J. A 39-year-old nurse with accidental discharge of an epinephrine autoinjector into the left index finger. / Emerg Nurs 1992; 18: 306-307. 8 Aycoek BG, Hawtof DB, Moody MS. Treatment of peripheral ischemia secondary to lidocaine containing epinephrine. Ann Plast Surg 1989; 23: 27-30. Topical cyciosporine-A for treatment of orai ulcers of Behpet's syndrome Buhfet's syndrome (BS) is a multisystem disorder with unknown etiology.' In spite of various systemic and topical modalities, tbe treatment of oral aphtbae - wbich is the most common manifestation of the disease - is unsatisfactory.^ Topical cyclosporine-A (CSA) has been used in treatment of oral lichen planus with some success, altbougb it pro- vided only sligbt improvement in a recent controlled study.''"* We designed this study to discover its efficacy on tbe oral ulcers of BS. Five men and 19 women aged 22-54 years (mean 36.5 ± 6.5), diagnosed as baving BS according to the criteria ofthe International Study Group' (ISG), and having had more than 8 ulcers within the previous 8 week period, were enrolled after informed consent was obtained. Those with eye, joint or visceral involvement, hepatic, renal, hematological disorders, bypertension, pregnancy, or lacta- tion were excluded. Pretreatment assessment included a general physical examination and a laboratory evaluation including blood cbemistry, hematology, and urinalysis. Laboratory reassessments were made at 4 and 8 weeks and the clinical assessment was made at the end of the 8 week treatment period. Patients were assigned randomly to one of the two treatment groups. Twelve patients received CSA, 70 mg per g of orobase, and 12 received orobase as a placebo. Twenty four patients were enrolled and 20 com- pleted the study. No side effects or laboratory abnormalities were detected. No clinical improvement in tbe number, size and bealing time could be discerned in either group. The apthous lesions in BS start witb a lymphocytic followed by a neutrophilic infiltrate and leucocytoclastic vasculitis. CSA has an inhibitory effect on IL-2 and IF-X production, wbicb in turn down-regulates the immune- inflammatory reaction; however, no beneficial effect could be demonstrated in our study. These negative results do not rule out the possibility of effectiveness of higher drug concentrations and/or the use of a different base. Tbus we propose that any further trials witb CSA should be attempted with a higher concentration than that used in our study. Tiilin Ergun, MD • Oya GUrbUz, MD . ^ • Sabahattin Yurdakul, MD • , . :_ - Vedat Hamuryudan, MD . . ,. .; Nural Bekiroglu, MD , . . . Hasan Yazici, MD .- Istanbul, Turkey • , , : ; . • References 1 Bebfet H. Uber rezidivierede, aphtose, durch ein virus verursachte Gescbwure am mund, am Auge und an den Genitalien. Dermatol Wochenschr 1937; 36: 1152-1157. 2 Hamuryudan V, Yurdakul S, Serdaroglu S, et al. Topical alpha-interferon in the treatment of oral ulcers in Behget's syndrome: a preliminary report. Clin Exp Rheumatol 1990; 8: 51-54. 3 Eisen Drore, Ellis NC. Topical eyelosporine for oral mucosal disorders. / Am Acad Dermatol 1990; 23: 1259-1264. 4 Sieg P, Domarus VH, Zitzewitz W, et al. Topical cyclosporin in oral lichen planus: a controlled randomized, prospective trial. Br J Dermatol 1995; 132: 790-794. 5 International Study Group for Behget's Disease. Criteria for diagnosis of Beh^et's disease. Lancet 1990; 335: 1078-1080. Meetings of international interest 1997 October 19-22 International Congress of Sexually Transmitted Diseases Seville, Spain. Contact: Congress Secretariat Apartado 6077 41080-Seville, Spain Fax 34/5/437 74 13 - . November 1Z-T4 II Tropical Dermatology Update Acapulco, Mexico Contact: E. O'Shaughnessy, Meeting Coordinator Jefferson Center for International Dermatology 233 South loth Street Philadelphia, PA 19107 Tel 215/955-5785. Fax Z15/955-5788 December 3-7 RheumaDerm 97 Floriana, Malta Contact: E. O'Shaughnessy, Meeting Coordinator Jefferson Center for International Dematology Z33 South loth Street Philadelphia, PA 19107 Tel 215/955-5785. Fax 215/955-5788 Internationai Journai of Dermatoiogy 1997, 36, 717-720 © 1997 Blackwell Science Ltd