A Prospective, Randomized, Single-Blind Study Comparing Cyanoacrylate Adhesives to Sutures for Wound Closure in Skin Cancer Patients.

Background: Cyanoacrylate tissue adhesives are not more likely to result in wound dehiscence or infection than sutured closures. However, suturing is the gold standard for optimal cosmetic appearance of scars.

Objective: To determine whether cyanoacrylate tissue adhesives produce a cosmetic outcome equivalent to sutures at 3 months.

Pediatricians' perspectives on indoor tanning.

This report presents results from an online survey of New York State pediatricians regarding their counseling habits and attitudes toward indoor tanning among adolescents, as well as their awareness of current legislation that restricts youth access to tanning beds.

Incidence of invasive squamous cell carcinomas in biopsy-proven squamous cell carcinomas in situ sent for Mohs micrographic surgery.

Background: Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in situ (SCCIS) is often treated without any pathologic confirmation of tumor clearance. It is unclear how often an invasive SCC is harbored within a lesion in which the initial biopsy demonstrated SCCIS because of inadequate sampling. This study examines the final histologic diagnosis of cases in which the initial biopsies were diagnosed as SCCIS and evaluates factors that may correlate with a histologic upstaging of the diagnosis.

Changes in skin tanning attitudes. Fashion articles and advertisements in the early 20th century.

Historical reviews suggest that tanning first became fashionable in the 1920s or 1930s. To quantitatively and qualitatively examine changes in tanning attitudes portrayed in the popular women's press during the early 20th century, we reviewed summer issues of Vogue and Harper's Bazaar for the years 1920, 1927, 1928, and 1929. We examined these issues for articles and advertisements promoting skin tanning or skin bleaching and protection.

Lymph node biopsy results for desmoplastic malignant melanoma.

Desmoplastic malignant melanoma (DMM) is a rare variant of melanoma with distinct histopathologic and clinical features. Compared with other melanomas, the desmoplastic variant demonstrates a greater frequency of local recurrence and a proclivity for tracking along nerves, but it poses a lower risk of distant metastases. Elective lymph node dissection and sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) are commonly used tools for determining prognosis in thick melanomas.

Adalimumab therapy for recalcitrant pyoderma gangrenosum.

Objective: To describe a patient with treatment-refractory pyoderma gangrenosum and the outcome of a novel therapeutic approach.

Methods: Case report and review of the literature.

Results: A patient with inflammatory bowel disease developed severe pyoderma gangrenosum while receiving treatment with the chimeric anti-TNF-alpha antibody infliximab.

Lichenoid paraneoplastic pemphigus in the absence of detectable antibodies.

Paraneoplastic pemphigus (PNP) has been described as an antibody-mediated mucocutaneous disease occurring almost exclusively in patients with lymphocytic neoplasms. We describe 4 patients with the clinical features of the lichenoid variant of PNP in the absence of detectable autoantibodies. On the basis of these findings, we conclude that the spectrum of PNP likely includes patients with disease predominantly or exclusively mediated by cytotoxic T cells rather than autoantibodies.

Cutaneous malignant melanoma.

Skin cancer has become the most common neoplasm in the United States. With early diagnosis and appropriate management, most skin cancers have an overall 5-year survival rate of 95%. Cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM), however, has a significantly higher morbidity and mortality, resulting in 65% of all skin cancer deaths.

Mycobacterium marinum with different responses to second-generation tetracyclines.

Background: Persistent cutaneous infections with Mycobacterium marinum can follow exposure of injured skin to contaminated water or fish, and can be treated with second-generation tetracyclines in addition to other antimicrobials. Due to the rarity of this infection, there are few data comparing the different treatment alternatives.

Methods: We report a patient with culture-proven M.

Downregulation of NDUFA1 and other oxidative phosphorylation-related genes is a consistent feature of basal cell carcinoma.

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common cutaneous malignancy that, like other tumours, possesses a heterogeneous genetic composition. In order to select genes with consistent changes in expression among these tumours, we analysed BCC microarray expression data by using a novel approach, termed correlative analysis of microarrays (CAM). CAM is a nested, non-parametric method designed to qualitatively select candidates based on their individual, similar effects upon an array-wide closeness measure.

Differences and similarities among expert opinions on the diagnosis and treatment of pemphigus vulgaris.

Background: As a result of a lack of large-scale controlled studies, the diagnosis and management of pemphigus vulgaris (PV) has been solely on the basis of expert opinion, rather than on empirical evidence. We have completed a survey of worldwide experts on the diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to PV.

Methods: We conducted a telephone-based survey of 24 physicians from academic, tertiary care centers worldwide with an average of 20 years experience treating pemphigus.

Oral cyclophosphamide for treatment of pemphigus vulgaris and foliaceus.

Background: Cyclophosphamide is an alkylating adjuvant used in refractory cases of pemphigus.

Objective: We sought to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of oral cyclophosphamide in the treatment of patients with pemphigus vulgaris (PV) and pemphigus foliaceus (PF) with refractory disease.

Patients: We studied 23 patients with pemphigus (20 with PV; 3 with PF) who failed to achieve clinical remissions with the use of prednisone and antimetabolites.

Treatment of pemphigus vulgaris and pemphigus foliaceus with mycophenolate mofetil.

Background: Mycophenolate mofetil is increasingly being used as a corticosteroid-sparing agent in immunosuppressive regimens.

Objective: To elucidate the effectiveness of mycophenolate as adjuvant therapy in the treatment of both pemphigus vulgaris and pemphigus foliaceus.

Design: Historical prospective study.