Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T06:42:42.054Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Ulceration of the nasal dorsum: a rare cause?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 January 2014

F Salim*
Affiliation:
ENT Department, Guy's Hospital, London, UK
A Joshi
Affiliation:
ENT Department, Guy's Hospital, London, UK
C Hopkins
Affiliation:
ENT Department, Guy's Hospital, London, UK
*
Address for correspondence: Mr Fakhruddin Salim, ENT Department, 3rd Floor, Southwark Wing, Guy's Hospital, Great Maze Pond, London SE1 9RT, UK E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

Introduction:

Non-healing ulcers can be caused by a number of conditions, including vascular disease, diabetes, malignancy and some infections. Drug-related ulcers are rare, and a high index of clinical suspicion is required for diagnosis, in parallel with exclusion of more sinister underlying causes.

Case report:

We present a patient with a complex medical background, who had a 10-week history of a non-healing ulcer on his nasal bridge. Inflammatory, autoimmune and malignant causes for the ulcer were excluded by histopathology.

Conclusion:

Nicorandil was deemed to be the most likely cause for the patient's ulcer. Nicorandil is an anti-anginal medication known to cause oral ulceration and skin lesions in the perianal and peristomal regions and around surgical wounds. However, there are no previously reported cases of facial ulcers. The ulcer required surgical debridement and healed completely within six months, following discontinuation of nicorandil. This case highlights the importance of having a high index of clinical suspicion regarding non-healing ulcers, and of considering drugs as an aetiological factor, especially in patients with a complex medical background who are taking numerous medications.

Type
Clinical Records
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

Presented at the 141st Semon Club Meeting, 2 June 2011, London, UK

References

1Sánchez-Arenas, R, Sánchez-García, S, García-Peña, C, García-Gonzàlez, JJ, Rivera-García, BE, Juárez-Cedillo, T. Drug-drug interactions at hospital admission in geriatric patients in a single facility: a retrospective study. Int J Clin Pharmacol Ther 2012;50:426–30CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2Challacombe, SJ, Setterfield, J, Shirlaw, P, Harman, K, Scully, C, Black, MM. Immunodiagnosis of pemphigus and mucous membrane pemphigoid. Acta Odontol Scand 2001;59:226–34Google Scholar
3Yasu, T, Ikeda, N, Ishizuka, N, Matsuda, E, Kawakami, M, Kuroki, M et al. Nicorandil and leukocyte activation. J Cardiovasc Pharmacol 2002;40:684–92Google Scholar
4Reichert, S, Antunes, A, Trechot, P, Barbaud, A. Major aphthous stomatitis induced by nicorandil. Eur J Dermatol 1997;7:132–3Google Scholar
5Patel, GK, Harding, KG. Nicorandil ulcer: moves beyond the mucosa. Ann R Coll Surg Engl 2010;92:451–2CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6Shotts, RH, Scully, C, Avery, CM, Porter, SR. Nicorandil induced severe oral ulceration. A newly recognized drug reaction. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod 1999;87:706–7Google Scholar
7Desruelles, F, Bahadoran, P, Lacour, J. Giant oral aphthous ulcers induced by nicorandil. Br J Dermatol 1998;138:712–13Google Scholar
8Webster, K. Nicorandil induced oral ulceration. Br Dent J 2005;198:619–21Google Scholar
9Kawamura, T, Kadosaki, M, Nara, N, Wei, J, Endo, S, Inada, K. Nicorandil attenuates NF-kappaB activation, adhesion molecule expression, and cytokine production in patients with coronary artery bypass surgery. Shock 2005;24:103–8CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10Ismail, HAF, Khalifa, MMA, Hassan, MK, Ashour, OM. Insights in the mechanisms underlying the anti-ulcer activity of nicorandil. Pharmazie 2007;62:60–6Google Scholar
11Boulinguez, S, Bonnetblanc, JM. Aphthae or painful ulcers induced by nicorandil [in French]. Presse Med 2000;29:1828–32Google Scholar
12Choi, Y, Lee, SE, Fukuda, S, Hashimoto, T, Kim, S-C. Mucous membrane pemphigoid with immunoglobulin G autoantibodies against full-length and 120-kDa ectodomain of BP180. J Dermatol 2010;38:169–72CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed