Fractional Ablative Laser Therapy is an Effective Treatment for Hypertrophic Burn Scars: A Prospective Study of Objective and Subjective Outcomes.

Objective: The aim of this study is to determine objective and subjective changes in mature hypertrophic burn scars treated with a fractional ablative carbon dioxide (CO2) laser.

Background: Fractional CO2 laser treatment has been reported to improve burn scars, with increasing clinical use despite a paucity of controlled, prospective clinical studies using objective measures of improvement.

Methods: A multicenter, site-controlled, prospective open-label study was conducted from 2013 to 2016.

Combined 585 nm pulsed-dye and 1,064 nm Nd:YAG lasers for the treatment of basal cell carcinoma.

Background And Objective: Basal cell carcinomas (BCCs) have supporting vasculature that serves as a target for vascular selective lasers. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of repeated treatment with a combined 585 nm pulsed dye laser (PDL) and 1,064 nm Neodymium Yttrium Aluminum Garnet (Nd:YAG) laser on BCCs of superficial and nodular subtypes of varying diameters.

Study Design/materials And Methods: Ten subjects with 13 biopsy-proven BCCs received four combined PDL and Nd:YAG at treatments 2-4 week intervals.

An infant with pulmonary-cutaneous Sweet syndrome.

We report the case of a 31-day-old girl presenting with severe respiratory distress and cutaneous lesions from Sweet syndrome. Pulmonary symptoms unresponsive to antibiotics in patients with Sweet syndrome should raise suspicion for neutrophilic infiltration.

When not to treat cutaneous vascular lesions with the pulsed dye laser.

The availability of effective laser treatment for cutaneous vascular lesions has risen dramatically in recent years. At the same time, there has been a proliferation of laser providers with varying amounts of training-both medical and nonmedical. We report a series of four cases where patients presented for cosmetic evaluation of vascular lesions and were discovered to have more significant pathologic disease.

Improved generation of anti-tumor immunity by antigen dose limitation.

Background: The malignant cells of cutaneous T cell lymphoma (CTCL) display immunogenic peptides derived from the clonal T cell receptor (TCR) providing an attractive model for refinement of anti-tumor immunization methodology. To produce a clinically meaningful anti-tumor response, induction of cytotoxic anti-CTCL cells must be maximized while suppressive T regulatory cells (Treg) should be minimized. We have demonstrated that engulfment of apoptotic CTCL cells by dendritic cells (DC) can lead to either CD8 anti-CTCL responses or immunosuppressive Treg induction.

Langerhans cells: mediators of immunity and tolerance.

Langerhans cells provide the epidermis with a surveillance network that samples the external environment influencing the decision between immunity and tolerance. Langerhans cells are immature dendritic cells acquiring antigens from foreign invaders as well as damaged native tissue for display to the immune response. The current paradigm suggests that the state of maturity of Langerhans cells, defined by the display of molecules that provoke immune responses (histocompatibility, co-stimulators, adhesion and homing receptors), determines whether emigration of the Langerhans cell to lymph nodes signals immunity or tolerance.

Stratum-specific expression of human transferrin receptor increases iron in mouse epidermis.

Epidermal desquamation accounts for 20% of the body's iron loss each day. Yet, little is known about how iron content in epidermis is regulated. To test the importance of the transferrin receptor in regulating iron content in epidermis, we created transgenic mice that have stratum-specific expression of the human transferrin receptor.