Publications by authors named "Caren Garber"
Background: It is unclear whether incidence of detected skin cancer in patients evaluated by store-and-forward teledermatology (SAF) vs. face-to-face consultation (F2F) significantly differs, and whether such differences are because of variations in patient demographics, diagnostic accuracy, or both.
Methods: This retrospective cohort study compares patient skin cancer risk profile, pre-post biopsy diagnostic accuracy, and detection rates of any skin cancer, melanoma, and keratinocytic carcinoma between all SAF teledermatology patients and a subset of randomly selected F2F consultations at VA-Boston Healthcare System in 2014.
Discrete papular lichen myxedematosus (DPLM), asubset of localized lichen myxedematosus, is a rarecutaneous mucinosis of unknown etiology. We reporta case of a 57-year-old woman with palmoplantarpsoriasis who developed DPLM 8 weeks after addingustekinumab to a long-term course of methotrexate.The patient had previously failed 2 prior tumor necrosisfactor (TNF) inhibitors, adalimumab and etanercept.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Among patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis, efficacy, and tolerability of available treatments based on psoriatic arthritis (PsA) history are not well-described.
Objective: We evaluate disease characteristics and treatment response variation in the moderate-to-severe psoriasis population based on PsA history.
Methods: Simple-measure for assessing psoriasis activity (S-MAPA) was used to retrospectively analyze treatment responses.
Article Synopsis
- Lower socioeconomic status (SES) is linked to poorer health outcomes, but its effects on psoriasis treatment outcomes had not been extensively studied.
- The study analyzed 156 psoriasis patients from Tufts Medical Center, using neighborhood income as a measure of individual SES, and compared their treatment outcomes in 12 weeks.
- Results showed that patients from poorer neighborhoods had significantly lower improvement in psoriasis scores, higher primary drug failure rates, and more instances of medication non-adherence compared to those from wealthier areas, suggesting that lower SES may negatively impact treatment efficacy.
Background/purpose: No systemic drugs are approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat pediatric psoriasis due to a lack of supporting data. The purpose of this study is to present cases demonstrating the use of systemic drugs in pediatric psoriasis.
Methods: In this case series, data were collected on patients ≤ 18 years old with moderate-to-severe psoriasis treated with systemic medications (traditional systemic drugs or biologics) from 2008 through 2014.
Background/objective: Despite the aging population, few studies have documented the treatment of geriatric psoriasis. The purpose of this study is to compare the efficacy, safety, and prescribing patterns of biologics and conventional systemic medications in elderly versus adult psoriasis.
Methods: All patient visits coded for psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis (ICD-9 696.
Lens opacification or cataract reduces vision in over 80 million people worldwide and blinds 18 million. These numbers will increase dramatically as both the size of the elderly demographic and the number of those with carbohydrate metabolism-related problems increase. Preventative measures for cataract are critical because the availability of cataract surgery in much of the world is insufficient.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAge-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness in the elderly. Clinical hallmarks of AMD are observed in one third of the elderly in industrialized countries. Preventative interventions through dietary modification are attractive strategies, because they are more affordable than clinical therapies, do not require specialists for administration and many studies suggest a benefit of micro- and macro-nutrients with respect to AMD with few, if any, adverse effects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The goal of this study was to characterize hospital antimicrobial stewardship practices nationwide and to identify factors associated with the presence of these programs.
Methods: The first web-based survey was sent in 2009 to members of the Yankee Alliance and the Premier Healthcare Alliance, nationwide organizations of health-care providers. The second survey, a slightly modified version of the first, was sent in 2010 to a commercially purchased list of hospital pharmacy director e-mail addresses.