Occurrence, Chronicity and Intensity of Itch in a Clinical Consecutive Sample of Patients with Skin Diseases: A Multi-centre Study in 13 European Countries.

Itch is an unpleasant symptom, affecting many dermatological patients. Studies investigating the occurrence and intensity of itch in dermatological patients often focus on a single skin disease and omit a control group with healthy skin. The aim of this multi-centre study was to assess the occurrence, chronicity and intensity (visual analogue scale 0-10) of itch in patients with different skin diseases and healthy-skin controls.

Cross-European validation of the ItchyQoL in pruritic dermatoses.

Background: Chronic pruritus (CP) is a frequently occurring symptom in inflammatory dermatoses, causing a high burden and limitations to health-related quality of life (HRQoL).

Objective: The ItchyQoL was developed to assess the impairment to HRQoL in patients with CP. However, it has only been validated in English and German.

The impact of atopic dermatitis on sexual health.

Background: Sexual health is frequently affected by chronic diseases but has been poorly investigated in patients with atopic dermatitis (AD).

Objective: To evaluate the risk factors for impaired sexual desire and its relationship with the burden and quality of life of patients with AD.

Methods: A multicentre prospective transversal study in patients with AD.

Prevalence of Pruritus in Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus: Brief Report of a Multicenter, Multinational Cross-Sectional Study.

Pruritus is an important symptom frequently accompanying various inflammatory skin conditions. Some recent data have indicated that it may also be associated with autoimmune connective tissue diseases, including systemic sclerosis and dermatomyositis; however, studies on the prevalence and clinical characteristics of pruritus in CLE are limited. We have performed a multinational, prospective, cross-sectional study in order to assess the prevalence and intensity of pruritus in adult patients suffering from various subtypes of CLE.

[Paraneoplastic pemphigus: Retrospective study of a case series].

Context: Paraneoplastic pemphigus (PNP) is a rare condition associated with poor prognosis. It associates polymorphic mucocutaneous manifestations with neoplasia. Diagnosis is difficult because of the various clinical and histological features involved and the lack of specificity of immunological examinations.

Humanistic burden of chronic pruritus in patients with inflammatory dermatoses: Results of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology Network on Assessment of Severity and Burden of Pruritus (PruNet) cross-sectional trial.

Background: Chronic pruritus is a multifactorial, challenging symptom of global relevance.

Objective: The European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology Network on Assessment of Severity and Burden of Pruritus (PruNet) investigation aimed to analyze the severity and humanistic burden of chronic pruritus in patients suffering from inflammatory dermatoses across Europe.

Methods: Prospectively collected routine data on 552 patients (with atopic dermatitis, contact dermatitis, prurigo nodularis, psoriasis vulgaris, lichen planus, or mycosis fungoides [pruritus numeric rating scale score ≥3]) from 9 European centers (in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, and Turkey) were analyzed by univariate and multivariate variance analyses of various itch characteristics and quality of life (as measured by the Dermatology Life Quality Index and the ItchyQoL).

Sensitive skin can be small fibre neuropathy: results from a case-control quantitative sensory testing study.

Background: Sensitive skin syndrome (SSS) is defined as the occurrence of unpleasant sensations (itch, pain, burning, prickling) in response to stimuli that should not normally cause such sensations. Previous studies show that SSS could be a small fibre neuropathy, but quantitative sensory testing (QST) is lacking.

Objectives: Using QST, to determine the presence or absence of tactile sensitivity disorder, mainly heat pain threshold (HPT), in patients with SSS.

Association between two painful and poorly understood conditions: Irritable bowel and sensitive skin syndromes.

Background: Irritable bowel and sensitive skin syndromes are common painful conditions that are poorly understood, with alterations of the peripheral (and possibly central) nervous system that lead to a lowering of perception thresholds as the main pathophysiological mechanism.

Methods: A cross-sectional epidemiological study was carried out on a representative sample of French people, according to the quota method using a questionnaire.

Results: Among the 5,000 respondents, 48.

Multiple capillary malformations of progressive onset: Capillary malformation-arteriovenous malformation syndrome (CM-AVM).

Background: Capillary malformation-arteriovenous malformation syndrome (CM-AVM) is an autosomal dominant disorder first described in 2003.

Patients And Methods: An 8-year-old girl was referred for the progressive appearance of multiple capillary malformations in childhood, evocative of CM-AVM syndrome. Molecular analysis of the RASA1 gene revealed a mutation but further examinations did not show arteriovenous malformation.

Development and validation of a new tool to assess the Burden of Sensitive Skin (BoSS).

Background: Sensitive skin usually manifests itself as unpleasant sensations and sometimes erythema. There are various triggering factors for this condition. Although sensitive skin may alter quality of life, its burden has not yet been explored.

Efficacy and tolerance of photodynamic therapy for vulvar Paget's disease: a multicentric retrospective study.

Background: Extra-mammary Paget's disease is a rare form of intraepithelial adenocarcinoma with a variable pattern of invasion, sometimes associated with distant malignancy. Vulvar Paget's disease (VPD) represents 1% of all vulvar cancers. Standard treatment is surgical excision, however, the recurrence rate is high and surgery leads to anatomical, functional, and sexual morbidity.

The self-assessed psychological comorbidities of prurigo in European patients: a multicentre study in 13 countries.

Background: Prurigo is defined by the presence of chronic pruritus and multiple localized or generalized pruriginous lesions.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the psychological burden of prurigo in patients of European countries.

Methods: In this multicentre European study, 3635 general dermatology outpatients and 1359 controls were included.

Clinical Characteristics of Pruritus in Systemic Sclerosis Vary According to the Autoimmune Subtype.

Pruritus is a frequent symptom in systemic sclerosis (SSc), with a prevalence of 40-65%, but its pathophysiology is poorly understood. This study investigated the immunological component of pruritus. Fifty-six patients with SSc responded to a standardized questionnaire regarding both SSc disease and pruritus characteristics.

Intraepidermal nerve fibres are not the exclusive tranducers of nociception.

The goal of this article is to provide an insight of the most recent data on cutaneous nociception. Indeed recent studies have demonstrated that keratinocytes closely participate in sensory transduction, and therefore, intraepidermal free nerve endings are not exclusive transducers of pain. Therefore, the results of neurophysiological studies should be interpreted in the light of this information.

Skin sensitivity and skin microbiota: Is there a link?

Sensitive skin is defined by the occurrence of unpleasant sensations, accompanied or not by erythema, in response to stimuli which normally should not provoke such sensations and that cannot be linked to skin disease. Even if its pathophysiology is not completely known, hyper-reactivity of the cutaneous nervous system associated with an abnormal skin barrier has been hypothesized as a primary culprit including more recently a role of the cutaneous microbiota. The objective of this short review is to discuss the relationship between the skin microbiota, skin sensitivity and the skin barrier function.

New insights into the roles of myofibroblasts and innervation during skin healing and innovative therapies to improve scar innervation.

During the resolution phase of normal skin wound healing, there is a considerable loss of various cell types, including myofibroblasts by apoptosis. Inappropriate delay of apoptosis, and thus increased survival of myofibroblasts, may be a factor leading to pathologies and excessive scarring. Considerable data now clearly suggest that innervation plays a major role in wound healing, including the modulation of fibroblast cellular activity.

Sex- and age-adjusted prevalence estimates of five chronic inflammatory skin diseases in France: results of the « OBJECTIFS PEAU » study.

Background: There are few population-based studies assessing the prevalence of skin diseases.

Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of five chronic skin inflammatory diseases, i.e.

The Role of Therapy in Impairing Quality of Life in Dermatological Patients: A Multinational Study.

Skin disease and its therapy affect health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The aim of this study was to measure the burden caused by dermatological therapy in 3,846 patients from 13 European countries. Adult outpatients completed questionnaires, including the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), which has a therapy impact question.

Psychogenic itch.

Psychogenic itch can be defined as "an itch disorder where itch is at the center of the symptomatology and where psychological factors play an evident role in the triggering, intensity, aggravation, or persistence of the pruritus." The disorder is poorly known by both psychiatrists and dermatologists and this review summarizes data on psychogenic itch. Because differential diagnosis is difficult, the frequency is poorly known.