Publications by authors named "Marta Kurzeja"
Introduction: Diagnosis of persistent erythematous, scaly patches, or plaques can be complex since psoriasis (Ps), eczematous dermatitis (ED), and mycosis fungoides (MF) can be considered. Dermoscopy, which is a noninvasive diagnostic tool, is commonly used to examine blood vessels, scales, and background color; however, research on hair shaft evaluation in inflammatory dermatoses remains scarce. The aim of the study was dermoscopic evaluation of hair shafts in skin lesions localized on the non-scalp skin areas in patients diagnosed with MF, Ps, and ED.
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- Hailey-Hailey disease (HHD) and Darier disease (DD) are rare genetic skin disorders that can be hard to differentiate, and diagnosis is primarily based on clinical signs and family history.
- A study with 13 patients (8 with HHD and 5 with DD) evaluated the effectiveness of dermoscopy, a noninvasive technique usually used for dermatological cancers, in identifying features specific to these diseases.
- The study found unique dermoscopic patterns for HHD (e.g., white clouds and crumbled fabric) and DD (e.g., star-shaped yellow areas with a whitish halo), suggesting that dermoscopy can be a useful tool for accurately diagnosing these conditions.
Autoimmune bullous diseases represent a heterogenous group of disorders caused by autoantibodies against adhesion molecules; the location of the target protein determines the level of cleft formation. The spectrum of ocular lesions in autoimmune bullous diseases can range from mild symptoms to severe involvement with sight impairment and even, in some cases, blindness. In pemphigus vulgaris, the prevalence of ocular involvement has been reported to be between 7% and 26%.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Classic lichen planopilaris (LPP) and frontal fibrosing alopecia (FFA) are primary lymphocytic cicatricial alopecia. In patients with ambiguous clinical presentation, reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) a new noninvasive skin imaging technique, could be a helpful diagnostic tool. The aim of our study was to describe the characteristic features of classic LPP and FFA using RCM.
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- Loose anagen hair syndrome (LAHS) primarily affects girls over 2 years old, characterized by hair that fails to grow and specific microscopic hair abnormalities.
- A study involving 89 children examined the trichoscopic features of LAHS compared to other hair disorders, identifying unique hair shaft and follicle patterns.
- Key trichoscopic indicators for diagnosing LAHS included the presence of rectangular black granular structures, solitary yellow dots, and a high percentage of follicular units with single hairs.
Background: Trichoscopy is becoming increasingly popular in diagnosing hair and scalp diseases. Scalp involvement in pemphigus is common. The scalp may be the first or only site of clinical manifestation of the disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Pemphigus is an autoimmune, bullous disease affecting the skin and mucous membranes. The aim of the study was to evaluate whether pemphigus vulgaris (PV) and pemphigus foliaceus (PF), may be diagnosed using reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM).
Methods: Thirty patients (18 with PV and 12 with PF) were included into the study.
Interleukin (IL)-23 is an important regulator of T helper-17 lymphocytes, which influence the cutaneous immune system by production of IL-17 and several other proinflammatory cytokines. This pathway has been recently linked to the pathogenesis of psoriasis and numerous other skin diseases. A newly developed biologic drug, ustekinumab (CNTO-1275), which targets the p40 subunit of IL-12 and IL-23, was approved by the US FDA and the European Medicines Agency in 2009 for the treatment of moderate to severe psoriasis.
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