Publications by authors named "Heather A Brandling-Bennett"

Background: Despite the widespread off-label use of methotrexate (MTX) for the treatment of atopic dermatitis (AD), there is limited high-quality evidence on dosing regimens and existing guidelines do not provide clear recommendations regarding dosing strategies.

Objective: The aim of this study was to achieve international consensus among AD experts to standardize the dosing regimen for MTX treatment in adults and children with AD.

Methods: An electronic Delphi (eDelphi) study was conducted from October 2021 to September 2022.

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Importance: Detecting activity of morphea can be complex but is crucial for adequate treatment and outcome assessment. The Morphea Activity Measure (MAM) was recently validated, but its responsiveness to change in disease activity has not been studied.

Objective: To evaluate the internal and external responsiveness of MAM to changes in disease activity in pediatric patients.

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Dermatologic complications are common following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, but dermatologic complications among pediatric patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for the treatment of sickle cell disease have been poorly characterized. In this case series of 17 patients (<21 years old) with sickle cell disease who underwent hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, 16 (94.1%) experienced one or more dermatologic complications after transplant, with the most common complications including acute or chronic mucocutaneous graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) (34.

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Morphea is a rare fibrosing disorder with a highly variable disease course, which can complicate management. Here, we present a prospective cohort study describing the current treatments used in the management of pediatric-onset morphea and assessing responses to systemic and topical therapies. Most patients demonstrated inactive disease by 1 year, regardless of treatment, though recurrences were common in our cohort overall (39%).

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Methotrexate (MTX) is a readily accessible drug, first used in 1948 and employed for a wide variety of indications since then. However, despite widespread off-label use, FDA labeling does not include approved indications for the use of MTX for many inflammatory skin diseases in pediatric patients, including morphea, psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, and alopecia areata, among others. Without published treatment guidelines, some clinicians may be hesitant to use MTX off-label, or uncomfortable prescribing MTX in this population.

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Importance: Morphea is an insidious inflammatory disorder of the skin and deeper tissues. Determining disease activity is challenging yet important to medical decision-making and patient outcomes.

Objective: To develop and validate a scoring tool, the Morphea Activity Measure (MAM), to evaluate morphea disease activity of any type or severity that is easy to use in clinical and research settings.

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Background: The distribution of pediatric-onset morphea and site-based likelihood for extracutaneous complications has not been well characterized.

Objective: To characterize the lesional distribution of pediatric-onset morphea and to determine the sites with the highest association of extracutaneous manifestations.

Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was performed.

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Cancer remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among children. Targeted therapies may improve survivorship; however, unique side-effect profiles have also emerged with these novel therapies. Changes in hair, skin, and nails-termed dermatologic adverse events (AEs)-are among the most common sequelae and may result in interruption or discontinuation of therapy.

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Background /objectives: Although 82% of pediatricians report that their patients have difficulty accessing pediatric dermatologists, the regions with greatest need for the specialty are not well-defined. We aimed to determine the geographic distribution of pediatric dermatologists relative to the number of children and pediatric generalists.

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study of all US board-certified pediatric dermatologists, generalists (defined as pediatricians and family medicine physicians), and children in 2020.

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Article Synopsis
  • The COVID-19 pandemic prompted the formation of a Pediatric Dermatology COVID-19 Response Task Force to provide guidance on managing immunosuppressive therapies in children, due to a lack of evidence-based data about their safety during the pandemic.
  • A survey of 37 pediatric dermatology experts revealed that 97% altered their decisions about starting immunosuppressive medications because of the pandemic, with many pausing or reducing lab monitoring for these treatments.
  • Experts generally agreed on the importance of temporarily discontinuing medications for patients with COVID-19 exposure or positive tests, while also emphasizing that each case should be carefully considered in discussions with patients and their families.
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Background/objectives: Studies describing treatment efficacy in pediatric morphea are lacking. Subspecialists have reached no consensus on how to optimally treat pediatric morphea. The objective of the current study was to describe the most common treatment practices of pediatric dermatologists worldwide who care for children with morphea.

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We present the case of a 12-year-old-girl who developed lichenoid dermatitis approximately 1 year after starting leflunomide for juvenile idiopathic arthritis. The eruption resolved promptly with discontinuation of the suspected culprit agent, supportive of a lichenoid drug eruption, but she subsequently developed markedly dystrophic nails with lichen planus-like features. A biopsy of her cutaneous findings at the time of initial presentation demonstrated lichenoid dermatitis, and a nail matrix biopsy was deferred given clinical correlation.

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Background/objectives: Children with skin-related problems commonly present to general pediatricians, and dermatology is among the top specialty areas that pediatricians have identified as having inadequate training to support their practice. This study was designed to document current opportunities for dermatologic training during pediatric residency and provides suggestions for improvement.

Methods: Pediatric residency program directors were contacted to participate in an online survey focusing on dermatologic training during pediatric residency.

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Purpose Of Review: Since 2008, beta-blockers have become first-line treatment for infantile hemangiomas, the most common tumor of infancy. Their role is also being explored in the treatment of other childhood vascular tumors.

Recent Findings: Recent research has demonstrated that propranolol is a more effective and safer treatment for infantile hemangiomas than previous therapeutic options.

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Tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) antagonists are used in the treatment of numerous autoimmune conditions. Adalimumab is the first monoclonal antibody to TNF-α and is used to treat juvenile idiopathic arthritis. A growing body of literature associates anti-TNF-α therapies with several adverse dermatologic manifestations, including drug-induced lupus erythematosus (LE).

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A 5-month-old healthy female presented with a pyogenic granuloma on the cheek. The lesion was treated with topical 0.5% gel-forming solution, resulting in regression of the lesion after 1 month of treatment and no recurrence at 8 months.

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Acrodermatitis enteropathica (AE) is a rare autosomal-recessive disorder characterized by dermatitis, alopecia, diarrhea, and retardation of growth and development. AE maps to 8q24.3 and is associated with mutations in the intestinal zinc transporter ZIP4 encoded by the gene SLC39A4.

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The objective of this study was to describe the clinical features of Sweet syndrome in children. Our study population consisted of seven children diagnosed with Sweet syndrome over a 22-year period. Age, sex, appearance and location of lesions, associated signs and symptoms, past medical history, pathology, and subsequent disease course were documented for each patient.

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Nevi or nests of cells may be made up of a variety of cell types. The cell types that live in the epidermis include epidermal cells or keratinocytes, sebaceous glands, hair follicles, apocrine and eccrine glands, and smooth muscle cells. This article discusses epidermal or keratinocyte nevi, nevus sebaceous, nevus comedonicus, smooth muscle hamartomas, and inflammatory linear verrucous epidermal nevi.

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One of the major morbidities of patients with epidermolysis bullosa is the tendency to develop chronic wounds, which predisposes them to multiple complications including life-threatening infections, failure to thrive, and squamous cell carcinomas. Chronic wounds frequently become colonized with bacteria, and we sought to identify the most common microorganisms isolated on cultures from patients with epidermolysis bullosa. We conducted a retrospective review of positive wound, nasal, and blood cultures, including bacterial, fungal and viral, in 30 patients with epidermolysis bullosa.

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