High-definition optical coherence tomography of melanocytic skin lesions.

High-definition optical coherence tomography (HD-OCT) scanners have recently been developed. We assessed micromorphological HD-OCT correlates of benign naevi (BN) and malignant melanoma (MM). 28 BN and 20 MM were studied using HD-OCT and histology.

Significance of multiple nodal basin drainage in patients with truncal melanoma.

Background: Assessing whether an association exists between drainage to multiple basins and lymphatic metastasis in patients with truncal melanoma (TM).

Methods: The study included 260 patients with primary TM (163 men; median age 56.5 y/o) with a cN0 M0, who underwent a sentinel lymph node scintigraphy and biopsy.

Clinical features and virological analysis of a case of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus infection.

Background: The Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is an emerging virus involved in cases and case clusters of severe acute respiratory infection in the Arabian Peninsula, Tunisia, Morocco, France, Italy, Germany, and the UK. We provide a full description of a fatal case of MERS-CoV infection and associated phylogenetic analyses.

Methods: We report data for a patient who was admitted to the Klinikum Schwabing (Munich, Germany) for severe acute respiratory infection.

Health-related quality of life before and during adjuvant interferon-α treatment for patients with malignant melanoma (DeCOG-trial).

Adjuvant treatment with interferon-α (IFN-α) for patients with malignant melanoma can improve relapse-free and overall survival, but IFN-associated side effects may reduce patient's quality of life. The aim of the study was to prospectively evaluate health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with melanoma before and during Low-Dose IFN-α therapy. In a prospective multicenter trial conducted by the Dermatologic Cooperative Oncology Group, 850 patients with cutaneous stage II malignant melanoma received a standard Low-Dose of IFN-α-2a.

Pretreatment levels of sTNF-R1 and sIL-6R are associated with a higher vulnerability for IFN-alpha-induced depressive symptoms in patients with malignant melanoma.

Immunomodulatory therapy with interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) often leads to neuropsychiatric side effects, especially depression. An activation of the immune system is discussed to trigger neurotransmitter changes and depressive illness. So far, few data are available about biologic markers, who may predict the individual risk for developing depressive symptoms during IFN-alpha therapy.

Correlation between sICAM-1 and depressive symptoms during adjuvant treatment of melanoma with interferon-alpha.

Interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) treatment is frequently complicated by symptoms of depression. The mechanism by which peripherally administered IFN-alpha enters and modulates the central nervous system remains unclear. The cell adhesion molecule ICAM-1 is involved in the regulation of blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability.

Cutaneous melanoma in childhood and adolescence: an analysis of 36 patients.

Analysis of data of 6931 patients with cutaneous melanoma seen at the Department of Dermatology and Allergology at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich between 1977 and 1998 identified 36 patients in whom cutaneous melanomas developed during childhood or adolescence (age <18 years). Clinical courses of all patients and histopathologic characteristics of the lesions were reviewed. Seventeen patients were boys and 19 patients were girls.