Basal cell carcinoma pathogenesis and therapy involving hedgehog signaling and beyond.

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) of the skin is driven by aberrant hedgehog signaling. Thus blocking this signaling pathway by small molecules such as vismodegib inhibits tumor growth. Primary cilium in the epidermal cells plays an integral role in the processing of hedgehog signaling-related proteins.

Patient satisfaction and reported outcomes on the management of actinic keratosis.

Actinic keratosis (AK) is a common dermatologic condition in which hyperplastic epidermal lesions develop in response to excessive and chronic exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation. If left untreated, AK can progress to squamous cell carcinomas of the skin. Incidence is rising worldwide as a result of the progressive aging of populations and an increase in lifetime cumulative exposure to UV radiation.

Assessment of Early Evidence of Multiple Sclerosis in a Prospective Study of Asymptomatic High-Risk Family Members.

Importance: Subclinical inflammatory demyelination and neurodegeneration often precede symptom onset in multiple sclerosis (MS).

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and subclinical abnormalities among asymptomatic individuals at risk for MS.

Design, Setting, And Participants: The Genes and Environment in Multiple Sclerosis (GEMS) project is a prospective cohort study of first-degree relatives of people with MS.

Assessing Cutaneous Psoriasis Activity Using FDG-PET: Nonattenuation Corrected Versus Attenuation Corrected PET Images.

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin condition characterized by well-circumscribed erythematous plaques with thick silvery scale. Infiltration of inflammatory cells such as lymphocytes, neutrophils, and macrophages and epidermal cell proliferation within psoriatic lesions may result in selective FDG accumulation. We present a 55-year-old patient with a 30-year history of psoriasis.

In vivo imaging of spinal cord atrophy in neuroinflammatory diseases.

Objective: Spinal cord atrophy is prominent in chronic progressive neurologic diseases such as human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1)-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) and multiple sclerosis (MS). Here we compared the spinal cord cross-sectional area (SCCSA) in HAM/TSP and MS patients to that of healthy volunteers (HVs).

Methods: SCCSA and clinical disability scores were measured in 18 HAM/TSP patients, 4 asymptomatic carriers (ACs) of HTLV-1, 18 MS patients, and 10 HVs from a 3T magnetic resonance imaging.

Rapid semi-automatic segmentation of the spinal cord from magnetic resonance images: application in multiple sclerosis.

A new semi-automatic method for segmenting the spinal cord from MR images is presented. The method is based on an active surface (AS) model of the cord surface, with intrinsic smoothness constraints. The model is initialized by the user marking the approximate cord center-line on a few representative slices, and the compact surface parametrization results in a rapid segmentation, taking on the order of 1 min.