Xeroform Gauze Bolster: A Cost-Effective Alternative to Synthetic Skin Grafts.

This case presentation describes and justifies the use of petrolatum gauze that is impregnated with 3% bismuth tribromophenate (Xeroform) as a low-cost and effective alternative for synthetic skin grafts. Herein, we discuss clinical trials that demonstrate the benefits of utilizing Xeroform for second-intention healing as well as photographs of a case in which the authors used this method and followed a patient's wound-healing process over time.

If At First You Don't Succeed, Trikafta Again.

Adverse reactions, including severe cutaneous reactions, to cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) modulators have been described in the literature. Herein we present a drug eruption in response to elexacaftor/tezcaftor/ivacaftor (brand name, Trikafta) in a 7-year-old male with cystic fibrosis, followed by desensitization and successful continuation. A review of the literature outlining similar cases is provided.

Discrimination of cancerous from benign pigmented skin lesions based on multispectral autofluorescence lifetime imaging dermoscopy and machine learning.

Significance: Accurate early diagnosis of malignant skin lesions is critical in providing adequate and timely treatment; unfortunately, initial clinical evaluation of similar-looking benign and malignant skin lesions can result in missed diagnosis of malignant lesions and unnecessary biopsy of benign ones.

Aim: To develop and validate a label-free and objective image-guided strategy for the clinical evaluation of suspicious pigmented skin lesions based on multispectral autofluorescence lifetime imaging (maFLIM) dermoscopy.

Approach: We tested the hypothesis that maFLIM-derived autofluorescence global features can be used in machine-learning (ML) models to discriminate malignant from benign pigmented skin lesions.

D-2-Hydroxyglutaric Aciduria with Enchondromatosis and Angiokeratoma Circumscriptum.

In this study, we report a four-year-old male with D-2-hydroxyglutaric aciduria (D2HA) and enchondromatosis with a prior history of hyperpigmented, segmental whorls and streaks on his abdomen who later presented with an eruption of angiokeratoma circumscriptum within a similar distribution. His condition can likely be explained by underlying somatic mosaicism; however, a unifying culprit gene mutation has not yet been identified. To date, only 10 reported cases of D2HA with enchondromatosis are available in the literature with three reported skin findings.

Clinical Pearl: advantages of the scalp as a split-thickness skin graft donor site.

Common challenges associated with split-thickness skin graft (STSG) donor site wounds include slow healing times and poor scar cosmesis. The technique described here improves these shortcomings by utilizing a Weck knife with adjustable thickness controls to harvest STSGs from the scalp.

Safety of Intradermal/Subcutaneous Lidocaine With Epinephrine Use in Dermatologic Surgery.

Background: Recently, the safety of lidocaine plus epinephrine use in outpatient surgery has come under scrutiny despite its long history of use in outpatient dermatologic procedures and surgeries.

Objective: To assess the frequency of crash cart and other emergency interventions during Mohs micrographic surgery when lidocaine plus epinephrine is used as a local anesthetic and evaluate patient comorbidities associated with these events.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted in an outpatient Mohs micrographic surgery clinic.

Adverse Effects and Safety of 5-alpha Reductase Inhibitors (Finasteride, Dutasteride): A Systematic Review.

Finasteride and dutasteride, both 5-alpha reductase inhibitors, are considered first-line treatment for androgenetic hair loss in men and used increasingly in women. In each case, patients are expected to take the medications indefinitely despite the lack of research regarding long-term adverse effects. Concerns regarding the adverse effects of these medications has led the United States National Institutes of Health to add a link for post-finasteride syndrome to its Genetic and Rare Disease Information Center.

Objective measurement of erythema in psoriasis using digital color photography with color calibration.

Background: Traditional metrics for evaluating the severity of psoriasis are subjective, which complicates efforts to measure effective treatments in clinical trials.

Methods: We collected images of psoriasis plaques and calibrated the coloration of the images according to an included color card. Features were extracted from the images and used to train a linear discriminant analysis classifier with cross-validation to automatically classify the degree of erythema.

Molecular basis for optical clearing of collagenous tissues.

Molecular interactions of optical clearing agents were investigated using a combination of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and optical spectroscopy. For a series of sugar alcohols with low to high optical clearing potential, Raman spectroscopy and integrating sphere measurements were used to quantitatively characterize tissue water loss and reduction in light scattering following agent exposures. The rate of tissue water loss was found to correlate with agent optical clearing potential, but equivalent tissue optical clearing was measured in native and fixed tissue in vitro, given long-enough exposure times to the polyol series.

Revisiting optical clearing with dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO).

Functional optical characterization of disease progression and response to therapy suffers from loss of spatial resolution and imaging depth due to scattering. Here we report on the ability of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) alone to reduce the optical scattering of skin. We observed a threefold reduction in the scattering of skin with topical DMSO application.

Correlation between collagen solubility and skin optical clearing using sugars.

Background And Objective: Light scattering from collagen within skin limits light-based therapeutics while increasing the risk of epidermal thermal injury. Specific chemicals show the ability to reduce light scattering by reversibly altering the optical properties of skin. This study examines the correlation between collagen solubility and the optical clearing potential (OCP) of sugars and sugar-alcohols using in vitro rodent skin.

Collagen solubility correlates with skin optical clearing.

Biomedical optics and photomedicine applications are challenged by the turbidity of most biological tissue systems. Nonreactive, biocompatible chemical agents can induce a reversible reduction in optical scattering of collagenous tissues such as human skin. Herein we show that a chemical agent's tissue optical clearing potential is directly related to its collagen solubility, providing a rational design basis for effective, percutaneous formulations.

Molecular interactions of exogenous chemical agents with collagen--implications for tissue optical clearing.

Reduction of optical scattering in turbid biological tissues using nonreactive chemical agents has potential applications for light-based diagnostics and therapeutics. Optical clearing effects by exogenous chemical agents, in particular sugars and sugar alcohols, have been found to be temporary with tissue rehydration. Applications with dermatologic laser therapies are now being investigated, but suffer from the inability of studied agents to penetrate the superficial layers of human skin.