Treatment With Penicillamines-Reply

In Reply.—  I have read with interest the letter from Dr Ward, and I have very few comments to make other than to indicate that our reference to the use of penicillamine in the treatment of acrodermatitis described regrowth of hair during penicillamine treatment. There was also a comment that the accompanying dermatitis initially cleared but then recurred to a rather great extent within several weeks after the treatment was begun.This, to my knowledge, is the only reference to the treatment of acrodermatitis enteropathica with penicillamine. I agree that the administration of penicillamine to a patient with acrodermatitis may, in fact, exacerbate that disease; however, we have no reference material to which we can refer that would confirm our impression.I also agree that as we learn more about the metabolism of zinc in the skin, we will find that there are a large number of zinc-deficiency dermatoses that