ORBIT (Outcome and Retention Rate of Biologic Treatments for Psoriasis): A retrospective observational study on biologic drug survival in daily practice.

Background: Biologic drug survival in psoriasis reflects long-term performance in real-life settings. Previous studies have yielded inconsistent results.

Objectives: We sought to analyze long-term biologic survival and its associated variables in a large, real-life cohort of patients with moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis.

Methotrexate in Moderate to Severe Psoriasis: Review of the Literature and Expert Recommendations.

Methotrexate (MTX) is the most frequently used conventional systemic drug in the treatment of psoriasis. Despite over 50years of experience in this setting, certain aspects of the use of this drug in clinical practice are still little standardized and poorly understood. For this reason, a group of 15 experts took part in a consensus development conference to achieve consensus on a series of recommendations on the use of MTX in psoriasis.

Prevention of anti-tumor necrosis factor-associated tuberculosis: a 10-year longitudinal cohort study.

Background: The extent to which anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-associated tuberculosis can be prevented is unclear, and there is no established guidance on the optimal screening strategy for latent tuberculosis (LTBI) in patients about to start anti-TNF therapy. We aimed to determine the effectiveness of a comprehensive program for the prevention of anti-TNF-associated tuberculosis, and to evaluate 3 LTBI screening strategies and the need for retesting patients with negative results at baseline.

Methods: In total, 726 patients were screened prior to anti-TNF therapy using 1 of 3 diagnostic strategies over 3 consecutive periods: first, a 2-step tuberculin skin test (TST); second, a 2-step TST plus QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube test (QFT-GIT) (2-step TST/QFT); and third, a single-step TST plus QFT-GIT (TST/QFT).

Use of biological treatments in patients with hidradenitis suppurativa.

Introduction: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic skin disease which causes a great impact in the quality of life. Multiple therapeutic options have been proposed, and recently the potential use of biological drugs in severe cases has been postulated.

Material And Methods: A retrospective study from seven tertiary Spanish centers reviewing the charts of patients with HS treated with biological drugs was performed.

Safety and effectiveness of ustekinumab and antitumour necrosis factor therapy in patients with psoriasis and chronic viral hepatitis B or C: a retrospective, multicentre study in a clinical setting.

Background: Both the safety and efficacy of biologic therapy may be affected in the presence of highly prevalent chronic viral hepatitis.

Objective: To evaluate the safety and effectiveness of ustekinumab and antitumour necrosis factor therapy in patients with psoriasis and concomitant chronic viral hepatitis.

Methods: This was a retrospective, multicentre study.

Orofacial granulomatosis: clinical study of 20 patients.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to analyze the clinical features of a series of patients with orofacial granulomatosis (OFG).

Study Design: Twenty patients diagnosed with OFG at Bellvitge Hospital (Barcelona, Spain) from 1985 to 2010 were included in the study.

Results: All of our patients (9 men and 11 women, median age 48.

Diagnosis of tuberculosis infection by tuberculin skin test and a whole-blood interferon-γ release assay in patients considered for anti-tumor necrosis factor-α therapy.

To assess the performance of QuantiFERON®-TB Gold in-Tube (QFT-GIT; Cellestis, Carnegie, Australia) and tuberculin skin test (TST) in patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMID), before anti-tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) therapy, and to compare the results with those from the healthy population. Three hundred fourteen subjects (214 with IMID and 100 controls) underwent simultaneous QFT-GIT and TST. QFT-GIT was positive in 21% of IMID patients and in 16% of controls (P = 0.

[Design and validation of a questionnaire to measure treatment satisfaction in patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis: the NEODERMA study].

Background And Objectives: the aim of this study was to design and assess the validity, reliability, and sensitivity to change of the Spanish Satisfaction With Treatment of Psoriasis Questionnaire (SSTPQ) for use in patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis.

Patients And Methods: a prospective, multicenter, observational, naturalistic study was designed. The instrument consisted of 12 items scored on a 5-point Likert scale with scores from 0 (very satisfied) to 5 (very unsatisfied), generating a total score of 0 to 48.

[Etanercept and chronic infection by HCV and HBV].

Both psoriasis and chronic infections by HBV and HCV have high prevalence. Thus, it is relatively easy for them to coincide in the same patient. If the psoriasis requires systemic treatment, the dermatologist should consider the hepatic comorbidity when selecting an appropriate treatment.

[Adverse reactions during biological therapy for psoriasis: results of a survey of the Spanish Psoriasis Group].

Background: Biologic therapies have been a major breakthrough in the treatment of psoriasis because they are more selective and have a better short-term and medium-term safety profile. There are reliable data to support both the efficacy and the safety of these drugs. However, it is always useful to report the clinical experience of dermatologists who are experts in the use of biologic agents to treat psoriasis, particularly with regard to their safety.

[Spanish evidence-based guidelines on the treatment of moderate-to-severe psoriasis with biologic agents].

Psoriasis vulgaris is an inflammatory skin disease that is generally chronic and that affects between 1 % and 2 % of the population in industrialized Western countries. It is associated with a marked decline in quality of life. A wide range of treatments are currently available, although surveys conducted before the advent of biologic agents reflected a strong degree of dissatisfaction with the treatments then available.

[Consensus document on the evaluation and treatment of moderate-to-severe psoriasis. Spanish psoriasis group of the Spanish Academy of Dermatology and Venereology].

The treatment of psoriasis has been revolutionized by the introduction of biologic agents; these agents achieve skin clearance and long-term improvement without the risk of toxicity that has limited use of the classic systemic treatments. The role of systemic treatment in the management of psoriasis is being reviewed on the basis of a large volume of scientific evidence on the efficacy and safety of biologic agents, and new therapeutic goals and strategies are being devised for patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis. This has led to the need to establish severity criteria that will provide the rationale for the indication of the different systemic agents currently available for the treatment of moderate-to-severe psoriasis, as well as therapeutic goals, efficacy measures, therapeutic strategies, screening protocols, and choice of treatment based on the risk-benefit ratio of the different agents.

[Update of the topical treatment of psoriasis].

Topical therapy continues to be one of the pillars of psoriasis management. Topical corticosteroids and vitamin D analogs are the drugs of choice during the induction phase, and vitamin D analogs continue to be drugs of choice for maintenance therapy. Tazarotene and dithranol are suitable options in patients with certain, specific characteristics.

[Reactions to infliximab infusions in dermatologic patients: consensus statement and treatment protocol. Working Group of the Grupo Español de Psoriasis de la Academia Española de Dermatología y Venereología ].

Infliximab is a chimeric monoclonal antibody that binds to and blocks tumor necrosis factor alpha and is the most effective biologic agent approved for the treatment of moderate-to-severe psoriasis. It is administered by intravenous infusion, usually in day hospitals on an outpatient basis. The main problem with the administration of infliximab is the possibility of infusion reactions, which may be immediate or delayed; these reactions are related to the immunogenicity of this monoclonal antibody, leading to the production of anti-infliximab antibodies.

A prospective evaluation of the cost of psoriasis in Spain (EPIDERMA project: phase II).

Objective: To estimate the direct and indirect costs related to psoriasis in Spain.

Methods: We performed a 12-month, multicentre, prospective longitudinal and observational study. Overall expense of care was assessed as the sum of direct and indirect costs.

Calciphylaxis associated with alcoholic cirrhosis.

Calciphylaxis is an uncommon disease characterized by calcification of dermal vessels that determines skin necrosis. Calciphylaxis has been almost exclusively reported in association with renal failure and altered phosphor-calcium metabolism. Only a few cases have been described in hyperparathyroidism, malignancies, and, recently, cirrhosis.

Crohn's disease presenting as prepuce and scrotal edema.

Metastatic cutaneous Crohn's disease, in which noncaseating granuloma infiltration of the skin occurs at sites separated from the gastrointestinal tract by normal tissue, is the least common dermatologic manifestation of Crohn's disease. We report a case of a 34-year-old man with metastatic Crohn's disease presenting as prepuce and scrotal edema with typical histopathologic features. We think that any unusual cutaneous lesion in patients with Crohn's disease should be biopsied.

Psoriasis of early and late onset: a clinical and epidemiologic study from Spain.

Background: The existence of 2 distinct forms of psoriasis related to age at onset has been postulated. However, precise data regarding the clinical and epidemiologic characteristics of psoriasis depending on the age at onset are still lacking.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to define the clinical and epidemiologic features of this disease in Spain and to compare patients with psoriasis of early and late onset.

Prevalence of psoriasis in Spain (Epiderma Project: phase I).

Background: Various national and international studies are under way to obtain reliable data on the epidemiological features of psoriasis.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of psoriasis in the general population in Spain as well as its variations according to sex, age and distribution in different geographical areas.

Material And Methods: A random sample (12,938 subjects from 4027 households), representative of the general population, was the basis for a cross-sectional survey through telephone calls performed by trained non-medical interviewers using a specific questionnaire.

Diffuse plane xanthoma: clinicopathologic study of 8 cases.

Background: Diffuse plane xanthoma (DPX) usually has been described in association with a reticuloendothelial disease. However, the incidence of an underlying disease and its relation to clinical and histopathologic features have not been previously described.

Objective: We describe the clinicopathologic features of a series of patients with DPX.

Changes in T-cell phenotype and adhesion molecules expression in psoriatic lesions after low-dose cyclosporin therapy.

Cyclosporin is a very effective treatment for severe psoriasis, but its exact mechanism of action in this disease is not completely understood. It has been hypothesized that the drug could act through the inhibition of the expression of certain cell adhesion molecules on the keratinocytes prior to the reduction in the number of epidermal inflammatory cells. Several studies have focused on ICAM-1 changes on keratinocytes and endothelial cells after cyclosporin treatment in psoriatic patients but their results have been somewhat contradictory.