Management of skin ulcers in a patient with mycosis fungoides

We present a patient with a cutaneous T-cell lymphoma/mycosis fungoides (CTCL/MF) followed for more than 10 years. After several different aggressive treatments to control progression of CTCL/MF, the patient developed several ulcerated tumors on the abdomen and limbs. Specific systemic antibiotic therapy failed to treat skin infection. While treating the stage III CTCL with polychemotherapy, we used an active colloidal hydrogel topically to manage wound healing and to treat and prevent potential sources of sepsis. After 11 weeks of treatment we observed complete cicatrization of ulcerated tumors. We reported on this case to describe the importance of a correct management of skin ulcers in immunosuppressed patients in order to avoid possible systemic spread of infection which represents the major cause of death in these patients. © 2006 Dermatology Online Journal.