[Dermatological aspects of AIDS in western Africa. Apropos of 140 cases].

This clinical survey, carried out during a 3 years period in the Dermatological Department of Bouake Hospital (Ivory Coast) analyses the skin and mucous membranes troubles caused by AIDS among adults. It is the first of that kind in Western Africa. 140 patients were concerned, showing carious dermatological troubles, 25 of them were counted. Few tropical skin diseases have their clinical picture altered by immunodeficiency. However, the Buruli ulcer may be described, which has in this condition a particularly development. We have underlined the particularities of some ubiquitous diseases, either because they appear on black skin (seborrheic dermatitis, Kaposi's sarcoma, prurigo, woolly hair syndrome, ichtyosis) or because they were neglected, or because they take an extensive form (chronic herpes, profuse condyloma). At the end of the survey, we are proposing a classification of the dermatological troubles, according to their features which might suggest AIDS. On this account, erythroderma, scattered forms of Mycobacterium ulcerans infection, and noma, find a place among the troubles suggesting adult AIDS in sub-saharian Africa.