A 13-year-old girl receiving multiple agent chemotherapy for osteosarcoma was found to have neutrophilic eccrine hidradenitis (NEH). This dermatosis is marked histopathologically by necrosis of the eccrine structures with a neutrophilic infiltrate. Clinically, the presentation is variable and the differential diagnosis is extensive. Our patient's clinical picture was unique in that she had hyperpigmented plaques instead of purpuric nodules or erythematous plaques as described previously. Currently, NEH is felt to be a complication of chemotherapy. The most likely causative agent in our patient was bleomycin. Physicians should be aware of this entity and its variable clinical presentation.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa auricular perichondritis can be a serious and expensive postoperative infection requiring prolonged hospitalization and intravenous administration of antibiotics. Oral antimicrobial agents have not been effective in the treatment of serious P. aeruginosa infections. Recently completed clinical trials have shown that oral ciprofloxacin, one of the new fluoroquinolone antimicrobials, is effective in the treatment of certain P. aeruginosa infections. We report two cases of P. aeruginosa auricular perichondritis successfully treated as outpatients with oral ciprofloxacin. This article also reviews the salient features of the new fluoroquinolones and their impact on antimicrobial therapy of serious skin and skin-structure infections.