Publications by authors named "Rokea A el-Azhary"
Background: Calciphylaxis is a debilitating dermatological condition associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality. Palliative care offers a multidisciplinary approach to addressing symptoms and goals of care in patients with serious medical diagnoses. Involvement of palliative services for calciphylaxis is infrequently reported in the literature.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Dermatologic complaints are a common reason for emergency department visits.
Methods: Retrospective chart review from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2019. Patients in the Mayo Clinic Emergency Department receiving dermatology consultation were included.
Chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD), a potentially debilitating complication of hematopoietic cell transplantation, confers increased risk for mortality. Whereas treatment decisions rely on an accurate assessment of disease activity/severity, validated methods of assessing cutaneous cGVHD activity/severity appear to be limited. In this study, we aimed to identify and evaluate current data on the assessment of disease activity/severity in cutaneous cGVHD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Hospitalized patients with hematologic malignancies are medically complex and commonly affected by dermatologic conditions.
Methods: Retrospective chart review from January 1, 2014, to December 31, 2018, at Rochester Methodist Hospital (Rochester, Minnesota, USA). Patients hospitalized on hematology and BMT services receiving dermatology consultation were included.
Background: The purpose of this study was to retrospectively assess clinical characteristics and mortality rate of Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) in patients who developed disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC).
Methods: A systematic retrospective chart review of all patients with concurrent clinical diagnosis of DIC and SJS/TEN between July 1, 2012, and January 1, 2020, at the Mayo Clinic was performed.
Results: The incidence of DIC in patients with SJS/TEN was 1.
Background: To retrospectively review the outcomes of two rare cutaneous diseases, Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN), and to question the practice of averaging the mortality rate on the assumption that they are one disease.
Methods: A retrospective chart review of all patients diagnosed with SJS and TEN by a dermatologist between January 1, 2000, and January 1, 2020, at our institution was performed. Seventy-one patients were identified (21 pediatric and 50 adults).
Background: A major question in patch testing is when to perform the final reading. Our current standard practice is to place patches on day 1, remove them on day 3, and perform readings on days 3 and 5. For certain allergens, another reading is performed sometime from days 7 to 14≥.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The occurrence of chemotherapy-related adverse cutaneous reactions in the setting of capillary leak syndrome (CLS) is quite rare. Our objective was to identify the type of skin reactions associated with CLS.
Methods: Leukemia or hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients between January 2010 and December 2017 were identified, and medical records were reviewed for a dermatology consultation occurring concomitantly with CLS.
Background: Few studies support treating morphea (localized scleroderma) with hydroxychloroquine.
Objective: To assess the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine treatment of morphea.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of 84 patients who had morphea and were treated with hydroxychloroquine monotherapy for at least 6 months at our institution from 1996 through 2013.
Change is an absolute so long as time does not stand still. We should expect it, embrace it, and try to predict its direction. Dermatology, as a specialty practice, has been changing rapidly over the past 30 years concurrent with the changes in medicine.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Patch testing to a standard (baseline) series of allergens is the screening tool used to identify culprit allergens in patients with contact dermatitis. The allergens and concentrations used in a standard series are constantly evolving to be most relevant to the patients being patch tested.
Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the 2011-2015 patch test results of the Mayo Clinic standard series.
Background: Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) following solid organ transplantation (SOT) is extremely rare and infrequently described in the dermatologic literature.
Methods: We performed a retrospective clinicopathologic review of our institution's experience with patients diagnosed with SOT-associated GVHD (SOT GVHD) (May 1, 1996 to September 1, 2017).
Results: Of nine patients with SOT GVHD, seven had undergone liver transplantation, while two had undergone lung transplantation.
Background: Existing literature on the prevalence of positive reactions to allergens is largely derived from dermatologists who practice at large academic centers. Data from other providers, including allergists who practice in various other settings, is important to assess a more representative and accurate prevalence of contact allergy.
Objective: To determine the prevalence of contact allergy among individuals with at least one positive patch test result by comparing data for positive patch test reaction rates of common contact allergens from 3 groups based in different practice settings, 2 of which are academic.
Background: Calciphylaxis is a devastating multifactorial disorder of the subcutaneous fat that is known to be associated with hypercoagulability. Recent literature has proposed subclassifying patients with calciphylaxis as having warfarin-associated or warfarin-unassociated disease.
Aim: We aimed to determine whether patients with warfarin-associated calciphylaxis differ clinically from patients with warfarin-unassociated calciphylaxis.
Background: Graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD) after solid organ transplantation (SOT) is extremely rare.
Objective: To investigate the dermatologic manifestations and clinical outcomes of SOT GVHD.
Methods: Systematic literature review of SOT GVHD.
Article Synopsis
- - Extracorporeal treatments like hemodialysis are usually lifesaving for drug poisoning but not typically used for severe skin and systemic drug reactions.
- - This study highlights three cases where hemodialysis effectively reversed serious drug reactions, including conditions like toxic epidermal necrolysis.
- - The findings suggest that hemodialysis could be a game-changer for severe drug reactions, though it's not widely recognized in current treatment guidelines, partly due to limited patient cases.
Calciphylaxis is a rare, painful, and life-threatening condition with a high mortality rate. Although the etiology of calciphylaxis is not well understood, it has been proposed that calcium deposition within and around subcutaneous vessels restricts blood flow chronically, thereby predisposing the patient to acute pannicular and dermal thrombosis. Given increasing recognition of the role of hypercoagulability in calciphylaxis, this retrospective cohort study sought to evaluate the presence of thromboses and dermal angioplasia in calciphylaxis.
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