Publications by authors named "Hotz A"

Article Synopsis
  • Keratosis palmoplantaris striata type I (SPPK-I) is a rare genetic skin condition marked by painful, thickened areas on palms and soles, often due to mutations in the desmoglein-1 gene.
  • Patients experience hyperkeratotic plaques and painful fissures, but existing treatments like salicylic vaseline and corticosteroids do not provide effective relief.
  • A case study highlights a specific genetic variant linked to SPPK-I, yet the search for effective treatments continues due to the limited options available for this disorder.*
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Article Synopsis
  • The study identified a new gene variant in NKPD1 linked to generalized lamellar ichthyosis among a family, enhancing the understanding of genetic factors in skin disorders.
  • This variant was confirmed to segregate with the disease in affected individuals, providing strong genetic evidence for its involvement.
  • Findings revealed NKPD1's potential role in skin lipid barrier formation and ceramide metabolism, differing from the previously known ASPRV1 association with autosomal dominant lamellar ichthyosis.
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  • Erythrokeratodermia variabilis (EKV) is a rare skin disorder marked by red patches and thickened skin plaques, usually inherited in an autosomal dominant pattern.
  • Traditionally, EKV was linked to mutations in connexin genes, but recent findings show other rare gene mutations can also cause the condition.
  • A study of seven patients with an EKV-like appearance found they had mutations linked to autosomal recessive congenital ichthyosis (ARCI), suggesting that ARCI should be considered when diagnosing EKV.
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Background: Achieving surgical autonomy can be considered the ultimate goal of surgical training. Innovative head-mounted augmented reality (AR) devices enable visualization of the operating field and teaching from remote. Therefore, utilization of AR glasses may be a novel approach to achieve autonomy.

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Importance: Although durable medical equipment and supplies (DMES) are commonly used to optimize the health and function in pediatric patients, little is known about the prevalence of use and spending on DMES.

Objective: To categorize the Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) for distinguishing DMES types, and to measure the prevalence and related spending of DMES in pediatric patients using Medicaid.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This study is a cross-sectional analysis of the 2018 Merative Medicaid Database and included 4 569 473 pediatric patients aged 0 to 21 years enrolled in Medicaid in 12 US states from January 1 to December 31, 2018.

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Objectives: Prior research suggests that errors occur frequently for patients with medical complexity during the hospital-to-home transition. Less is known about effective postdischarge communication strategies for this population. We aimed to assess rates of 30-day (1) postdischarge incidents and (2) readmissions and emergency department (ED) visits before and after implementing a hospital-to-home intervention.

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Integrin α6β4, encoded by ITGA6 and ITGB4, is a transmembrane component of hemidesmosomes and plays an important role in connecting keratinocytes with extracellular matrix proteins. ITGB4 or ITGA6 biallelic pathogenic variants cause junctional epidermolysis bullosa (JEB) with pyloric atresia, which is associated with high lethality. Patients who survive usually develop JEB of intermediate severity and urorenal manifestations.

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Inherited ichthyoses are classified as Mendelian disorders of cornification (MEDOC), which are further defined on the basis of clinical and genetic features and can be divided into non-syndromic and syndromic forms. To date, mutations in more than 30 genes are known to result in various types of syndromic ichthyoses, which, in addition to mostly generalised scaling and hyperkeratosis of the skin, also show additional organ involvement. The syndromic ichthyoses are generally very rare and are classified based on the mode of inheritance, and can be further subdivided according to the predominant symptoms.

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Imaging large, cleared samples requires microscope objectives that combine a large field of view (FOV) with a long working distance (WD) and a high numerical aperture (NA). Ideally, such objectives should be compatible with a wide range of immersion media, which is challenging to achieve with conventional lens-based objective designs. Here we introduce the multi-immersion 'Schmidt objective' consisting of a spherical mirror and an aspherical correction plate as a solution to this problem.

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Article Synopsis
  • Autosomal recessive congenital ichthyosis (ARCI) is a skin disorder characterized by abnormal scaling and has three main forms: lamellar ichthyosis, congenital ichthyosiform erythroderma, and harlequin ichthyosis.
  • The condition is caused by mutations in several genes, with the most severe form (harlequin ichthyosis) primarily linked to specific mutations in one gene, which can also lead to the other two forms.
  • A study involving 64 patients identified 34 novel mutations, expanding the known mutations associated with this condition and showing a connection between the type of mutation and the severity of the skin condition.
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Objective: The switch between nonseizure and seizure states involves profound alterations in network excitability and synchrony. In this study, we aimed to identify and compare features of neural excitability and dynamics across multiple zebrafish seizure and epilepsy models.

Methods: Inspired by video-electroencephalographic recordings in patients, we developed a framework to study spontaneous and photically evoked neural and locomotor activity in zebrafish larvae, by combining high-throughput behavioral tracking and whole-brain in vivo two-photon calcium imaging.

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Symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) may rarely occur in the context of genetic syndromes. So far, an association between obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) and ACTG1-associated Baraitser-Winter cerebrofrontofacial syndrome has not been described as yet. A thoroughly phenotyped patient with OCS and ACTG1-associated Baraitser-Winter cerebrofrontofacial syndrome is presented.

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Article Synopsis
  • Epidermolysis bullosa (EB) is a rare genetic skin disorder causing blisters to form on the skin and mucous membranes, with varying severity among patients.
  • A study conducted in Germany found an EB incidence of 45 cases per million live births, with higher rates for junctional EB compared to other countries, possibly due to better early genetic diagnosis.
  • With estimates of around 2000 EB patients in Germany, the findings aim to influence healthcare policies, drug development strategies, and support patient advocacy efforts for improved quality of life.
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Fast three-dimensional imaging of freely-swimming zebrafish is essential to understand the link between neuronal activity and behavioral changes during epileptic seizures. Studying the complex spatiotemporal patterns of neuronal activity at the whole-brain or -body level typically requires physical restraint, thus hindering the observation of unperturbed behavior. Here we report on real-time volumetric optoacoustic imaging of aberrant circular swimming activity and calcium transients in freely behaving zebrafish larvae, continuously covering their motion across an entire three-dimensional region.

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Background: Although pediatric health care use declined during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the impact on children with complex chronic conditions (CCCs) has not been well reported.

Objective: To describe the impact of the pandemic on inpatient use and outcomes for children with CCCs.

Methods: This multicenter cross-sectional study used data from the Pediatric Health Information System.

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Astroglial excitatory amino acid transporter 2 (EAAT2, GLT-1, and SLC1A2) regulates the duration and extent of neuronal excitation by removing glutamate from the synaptic cleft. Hence, an impairment in EAAT2 function could lead to an imbalanced brain network excitability. Here, we investigated the functional alterations of neuronal and astroglial networks associated with the loss of function in the astroglia predominant eaat2a gene in zebrafish.

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In about 20-30% of all women with breast cancer, an increased number of cases of breast cancer can be observed in their family history. However, currently, only 5-10% of all breast cancer cases can be attributed to a pathogenic gene alteration. Molecular genetic diagnostics underwent enormous development within the last 10 years.

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Autosomal recessive Chanarin-Dorfman syndrome (CDS, MIM #275630) is defined as a neutral lipid storage disease with ichthyosis (NLSDI) due to an accumulation of lipid droplets in a variety of different tissues including liver and muscle cells, leucocytes, fibroblasts and nerve cells It is caused by biallelic mutations in the abhydrolase domain containing 5 gene (, MIM *604780) which is localized on the short arm of chromosome 3. Here we report an 18 month-old girl in whom we have identified the homozygous mutation c.700C > T, p.

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Background: Non-syndromic congenital ichthyosis describes a heterogeneous group of hereditary skin disorders associated with erythroderma and scaling at birth. Although both severe and mild courses are known, the prediction of the natural history in clinical practice may be challenging.

Objectives: To determine clinical course and genotype-phenotype correlations in children affected by non-syndromic congenital ichthyosis in a case series from south-western Germany.

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Primary cutaneous γδ T-cell lymphomas (PCGDTLs) are a heterogeneous group of lymphomas representing about 1% of primary cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (CTCLs) and mostly regarded as clinically aggressive. Current WHO-EORTC classification recognizes different clinic-pathologic subsets of PCGDTL, but it suggests that cases showing a mycosis fungoides (MF)-like clinical presentation and histopathology should be classified as MF irrespective of phenotype for their indolent course. Herein, we describe a case of γδ-MF, featuring at onset a granulomatous pattern, with subsequent clinical worsening signaled by the development of an ulcero-necrotic lesion and systemic dissemination, leading to death in 5 months.

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Background: Epidermolysis bullosa simplex (EBS) is the most common type of EB, a group of rare genodermatoses. Affected individuals suffer from skin blistering and report a high disease burden. In some EBS subtypes, plantar keratoderma (PK) has been described.

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The autosomal recessive congenital ichthyoses (ARCI) are a nonsyndromic group of cornification disorders that includes lamellar ichthyosis, congenital ichthyosiform erythroderma, and harlequin ichthyosis. To date mutations in ten genes have been identified to cause ARCI: , , , , , , , , , and . The main focus of this report is the mutational spectrum of the genes and , which encode the epidermal lipoxygenases arachidonate 12-lipoxygenase, i.

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