Isotretinoin remains the gold standard in the treatment of Acne Vulgaris especially since tolerable doses nowadays focus on low doses. However, even with this, patients can have difficulty tolerating them because of the occurrence of side effects such as xerosis of the skin and mucous membranes. Also, even here, isotretinoin can have adverse effect on…
Although tattoos are fairly easy to do they can be a challenge to remove. Why are lasers used for tattoo removal ? In the past tattoo removal involves tissue-destructive techniques including excision/grafting, dermabrasion, cryosurgery and electrosurgery. Although effective at removing the tissue pigments, these techniques often cause scaring, textural changes, keloids and permanent dyschromia. Lasers…
Albinism is a rare genetic condition affecting around 1 out of 17000 individuals (can vary geographically). Albinism is characterized by severe and handicapping deficits in the visual system in association with a most variable hypopigmentation phenotype: visual defects include: foveal hypoplasia, reduced pigmentation of retinal pigment epithelium cells, misrouting of the optic nerves at the…
Melasma (Chloasma, Pregnancy Mask) is a common pigmentary condition and although it occurs more often in females and that hormonal factors may play a role, it is still incompletely understood. Clinically: In the lesions, telangiectasia (dilated broken blood vessels), tend to be present and melasma lesions have more vascularization when compared with the perilesional skin.…
Up to 100 million individuals may be infected by the dengue virus each year. The virus is transmitted through arthropod bites (usually mosquitoes). Population increase makes control of mosquito population difficult as breeding sites (stagnant waters) are more numerous and less detectable (roofs…). Infection ranges from asymptomatic infection to dengue fever with/without hemorrhagic fever and…
Newer treatments against psoriasis are targeted and are called „biologics“ as a group. However biologics can be divided into two groups, based on their molecular target. The newer ones target Il-17 and include secukinumab and ustekinumab The « older » ones include etanercept, infliximab and adalimumab (which bind tumor necrosis factor (TNF)) Anti-TNF medication is known to…
The authors sought to measure the effects of Cannabis sativa, (-)-cannabidiol (CBD) (a recreational drug) Results of the study show that: administration of CBD to cultured human sebocytes (cells that secrete sebum) and human skin organ culture inhibited the lipogenic actions of various compounds, including including testosterone. CBD suppresses sebocyte proliferation via the activation of…
Strategies for early melanoma detection: Approaches to the patient with nevi. Goodson AG, Grossman D. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2009 May;60(5):719-35; quiz 736-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jaad.2008.10.065. Mole checks are the “bread and butter” of many dermatologists. The article summarizes the concepts of practical situations that arise when checking the skin or moles for melanoma: Should we…
Neurofibromatosis type 1. Boyd KP, Korf BR, Theos A. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2009 Jul;61(1):1-14; quiz 15-6. doi: 10.1016/j.jaad.2008.12.051. Neurofibromatosis is also called Von Recklinghausen’s disease and affects one individual out of 3500. It is part of the phacomatoses and is inherited in an autosomal dominant fashion (mutation on chromosome 17) The review goes through…
Selection criteria for genetic assessment of patients with familial melanoma. Leachman SA, Carucci J, Kohlmann W, Banks KC, Asgari MM, Bergman W, Bianchi-Scarrà G, Brentnall T, Bressac-de Paillerets B, Bruno W, Curiel-Lewandrowski C, de Snoo FA, Debniak T, Demierre MF, Elder D, Goldstein AM, Grant-Kels J, Halpern AC, Ingvar C, Kefford RF, Lang J, MacKie…
