Case reports: practical experience with efalizumab in hand and foot psoriasis.

Psoriasis of the hands and feet is highly debilitating and difficult to treat. It may be of a plaque-or pustular-type, or a combination of the two. Efalizumab (Raptiva, Genentech Inc), a humanized monoclonal antibody that inhibits critical T cell-mediated processes, is approved by the FDA for the treatment of adult patients with chronic moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.

Clinical and economic impact of Apligraf for the treatment of nonhealing venous leg ulcers.

Background: Controlled studies have shown that Apligraf(R) (Organogenesis Inc., Canton, USA) is more economical and more effective at healing venous leg ulcers (VLUs) than compression therapy alone. However, the clinical and economic impact of Apligraf on healing VLUs in clinical practice has not been fully examined.

Narrow-band ultraviolet B treatment for vitiligo, pruritus, and inflammatory dermatoses.

Background: Narrow-band ultraviolet B (NB-UVB) therapy has been used successfully for the treatment of inflammatory and pigmentary skin disorders including atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, mycosis fungoides, polymorphous light eruption, and vitiligo.

Methods: This is a retrospective review of the treatment outcomes of 117 consecutive patients with vitiligo, pruritus, and other inflammatory dermatoses, excluding those with psoriasis and CTCL, who were treated with NB-UVB between 1998 and 2001 at our institution.

Results: Approximately 80% of all patients showed improvement in their condition.

Graftskin therapy in epidermolysis bullosa.

Background: Epidermolysis bullosa (EB) is a family of 23 genetic skin disorders for which treatments are mainly supportive. Graftskin is a bilayered living human skin construct characterized by a normal expression profile of all the genes reported as mutant in EB.

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency and durability of graftskin in the treatment of EB.

Narrowband UVB phototherapy for early-stage mycosis fungoides.

Background: Narrowband UVB (NB-UVB) phototherapy has been shown to be effective for the treatment of various dermatoses.

Objective: We evaluated the effect of NB-UVB in the treatment of early stage mycosis fungoides (MF).

Methods: The response of 24 patients (12 stage IA, 12 stage IB) with patch stage MF to thrice weekly NB-UVB was assessed.