Atopy patch testing with aeroallergens in a large clinical population of dermatitis patients in Germany and Switzerland, 2000-2015: a retrospective multicentre study.

Background: The diagnostic significance of the atopy patch test for the management of dermatitis possibly triggered by aeroallergens is still controversial. However, sufficiently large studies with routinely tested standardized aeroallergen patch test preparations in dermatitis patients are lacking.

Objective: To evaluate the reaction frequency and the reaction profiles of 10 until mid-2015 commercially available, standardized aeroallergen patch test preparations of the 'Stallerpatch' test series (Stallergenes, Antony Cedex, France) in a large multicentre patient cohort.

Fumaric acid ester-induced T-cell lymphopenia in the real-life treatment of psoriasis.

Background: Fumaric acid esters (FAEs) are used to treat psoriasis and are known to cause lymphopenia in roughly 60% of the patients. Much remains to be elucidated about the biological effects of FAEs on lymphocytes.

Objective: To evaluate the influence of long-term FAE (Fumaderm ) treatment on peripheral blood CD4 and CD8 T cells, CD19 B cells and CD56 natural killer (NK) cells in psoriasis.

Auditory function in hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy (Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease).

Fourteen patients with hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy (HMSN), 12 of Type I and 2 of Type II, were assessed for auditory dysfunction. Five patients complained of hearing loss and all had pure-tone audiograms outside the normal range, while one patient who did not complain of hearing impairment also had an abnormal pure-tone audiogram. Assessment of loudness function, speech audiometry and brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEP) suggested that the hearing loss was the result of VIII nerve dysfunction, a conclusion supported by the abnormality of the electrocochleogram (ECochG) in one patient.

Peak-clipping in induction loop systems.

The decision to fit an induction loop system in many buildings is often dictated by cost, in particular that of the amplifier. In order to accommodate the peaks of speech the amplifier must be 4 times as powerful as that required for average speech. This often makes a profound difference to the cost and tips the balance against a loop being installed.