Documentation of psoriasis in routine care - expert consensus on a German data set.

Background And Objectives: Documenting patient data in psoriasis clinical practice can improve care, but standardized and transparent documentation is rare. The current project aimed to develop a data set for the documentation of psoriasis in daily practice.

Material And Methods: In four online Delphi rounds and one in-person meeting, 27 psoriasis experts allocated variables to a standard, an optimal and an optional data set.

Brodalumab for the treatment of moderate-to-severe psoriasis: case series and literature review.

Brodalumab, a recombinant fully human monoclonal immunoglobulin IgG2 antibody with high affinity to human interleukin (IL)-17RA, is approved for the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. In controlled clinical trials, brodalumab 210 mg administered by subcutaneous injection at weeks 0, 1, and 2, then 210 mg every 2 weeks, produced a rapid onset and sustained clinical response. Consistently, >80% of patients achieved PASI-75 and efficacy was maintained for >2 years.

Clinical assessment of a foam dressing containing growth factor-enhancing hydrated polyurethanes.

Objective: This study assesses a novel dressing concept in venous leg ulcer (VLU) patients. It is based on boosting endogenous growth factor activities synthesised by functional granulation tissue.

Methods: Patients received treatment for eight weeks with a hydrated polyurethane-containing foam dressing plus concomitant compression therapy.

Sustained remission of blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm after unrelated allogeneic stem cell transplantation--a single center experience.

Blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN) is a rare hematodermic neoplasm which typically presents with skin infiltrates with or without lymphadenopathy and bone marrow involvement. No standard of care exists for this aggressive disease and prognosis is particularly poor. Here, we present our experience with nine BPDCN patients diagnosed at our institution between 2005 and 2012.

Topical long-term therapy of psoriasis with vitamin D₃ analogues, corticosteroids and their two compound formulations: position paper on evidence and use in daily practice.

Background: Current data from daily practice show that vitamin D₃ analogues, corticosteroids and their fixed combination products are used heterogeneously for topical long-term treatment of psoriasis.

Aim: To evaluate scientific evidence about topical long-term therapy with vitamin D3 analogues, corticosteroids and their two-compound-products in psoriasis vulgaris and scalp psoriasis and to develop daily practice recommendations.

Methods: Systematic literature review via PubMed and Embase and informal expert consensus.

Varicella Outbreak in an Indian Couple Living in Germany Caused by VZV Clade VI Acquired during a Trip to The Netherlands.

Varicella-zoster virus (VZV), the cause of varicella and zoster, is divided into five major clades and four provisional clades, the latter of which have been rarely reported worldwide to date. We present a varicella outbreak by the provisional clade VI within an Indian couple in Germany returning from a trip to Amsterdam. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of varicella by the VZV clade VI described in Germany, but the disease was acquired in The Netherlands.

Prevention of intraprocedural puncture site bleeding during arterial port implantation by use of a suture-mediated arterial closure system: a prospective randomized trial.

Purpose: To investigate a modified technique for arterial port placement that uses a suture-mediated closure system with the aim to reduce delays caused by intraprocedural oozing around the catheter.

Materials And Methods: Forty consecutive patients (age, 63.9 y ± 11.

Varicella outbreak in Indian students in Magdeburg with detection of the African-Indian VZV clade 5.

Varicella has the highest contagiosity index of all viral diseases. We report an endemic outbreak of varicella among 4 Indian students in Magdeburg in November and December 2008. An initially severe course was observed in three of these patients with a negative vaccination status.

Comparative in situ topoproteome analysis reveals differences in patch test-induced eczema: cytotoxicity-dominated nickel versus pleiotrope pollen reaction.

A subgroup of patients with atopic eczema develops acute eczematous reactions to type I allergy-inducing agents such as pollen that clinically resemble type IV allergies induced by haptens like metal ions. To clarify the underlying immunologic mechanisms, this study was designed to map the inflammatory in situ topoproteome of eczematous responses to grass/birch pollen and nickel by using atopy patch test (APT) and nickel patch test (NPT) as an appropriate clinical model, respectively. Biopsies from NPT (n = 6) and APT (n = 6) with positive reactions at 72 h were analysed by multiple epitope ligand cartography (MELC), which enabled to investigate coexpression of 49 different epitopes immunohistochemically in a single given tissue section.

Low-dose combination therapy of severe digital ulcers in diffuse progressive systemic sclerosis with the endothelin-1 receptor antagonist bosentan and the phosphodiesterase V inhibitor sildenafil.

Digital ulcers in progressive systemic sclerosis (PSS) are often refractory to therapy. A frequently chronic aggressive course can lead to the loss of acral limbs involved. A 73-year-old woman developed a dramatic worsening of her ulcerations despite maximum conventional therapy.

In-situ-topoproteome analysis of cutaneous lymphomas: perspectives of assistance for dermatohistologic diagnostics by Multi Epitope Ligand Cartography (MELC).

Background: Immunophenotyping is essential for diagnostics of cutaneous lymphomas. In this regard we present a skin tissue-adapted application platform of MELC technology.

Patients And Methods: This topoproteome analysis allows the subcellular colocalization of at least n = 100 epitopes in situ.

Cowpox infection transmitted from a domestic cat.

A 21-year-old immunocompetent woman developed a cowpox infec-tion,while working as a veterinarian's assistant in a rural area. She had never received vaccinia immunization and came in contact with a fatally-infected house cat. Under symptomatic treatment, the infection remained localized to one cheek and cleared over 3 weeks with substantial dermal-subcutaneous tissue destruction.

UVB irradiation-induced impairment of keratinocytes and adaptive responses to oxidative stress.

UVB irradiation of human skin is known to induce pathophysiological processes as oxidative stress and inflammation. HaCaT keratinocytes represent a well-established in vitro model system to investigate the influence of UVB irradiation on cell cultures. It was the aim of these investigations to study the effects of moderate UVB doses on cellular and mitochondrial integrity of HaCaT keratinocytes, biomarkers of oxidative stress and antioxidant protection by superoxide dismutases.

Profiling lymphocyte subpopulations in peripheral blood under efalizumab treatment of psoriasis by multi epitope ligand cartography (MELC) robot microscopy.

CD11a-blocking efalizumab has recently been approved as a systemic treatment of moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis. When treating 6 psoriasis patients with efalizumab over 12 weeks in the present study, we observed an overall good tolerability and 5 treatment responders characterized by a decrease of PASI from 21.3 +/- 5.