A national survey comparing practice patterns and residency training satisfaction for categorical dermatology versus combined internal medicine and dermatology trained physicians.

Combined internal medicine and dermatology (med-derm) training programs were created to advance complex medical dermatology and inpatient dermatology care. A prior study demonstrated that compared to categorical dermatology residents, med-derm residents had less program satisfaction, yet indicated a stronger desire to pursue careers in academia. No follow-up data on practice patterns after training has been reported.

Are Rubber Gloves Marketed as Accelerator-Free Truly Free of Accelerators?

Background: Allergic contact dermatitis to rubber accelerators in gloves has been well described in the literature. In response to this, glove manufacturers have recently marketed "accelerator-free" gloves. Little research has been done, to confirm whether these gloves are truly free from the accelerators known to cause contact dermatitis.

Bilateral epidermal nevi in the external auditory canals treated with CO laser.

Epidermal nevi are benign hamartomas of the epidermis and adnexal structures of the skin. We present the case of epidermal nevi in the bilateral external auditory ear canals of an otherwise healthy 23-year-old woman treated with CO laser ablation.

Delusional infestation versus Morgellons disease.

Delusional infestation is the conviction that one is infested with pathogens-either animate or inanimate-despite medical or microbiologic evidence to the contrary. Infestation with inanimate pathogens, specifically fibers or filaments, has been controversially termed Morgellons disease by the patients themselves, who believe that this is not a psychiatric disease but rather a new organic condition or a skin manifestation of an infection, such as Lyme disease. A large-scale study by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention on patients presenting with Morgellons clinical manifestations did not find evidence of fibers in the skin nor an association with any infection, including Lyme disease.

Rubber Accelerators in Medical Examination and Surgical Gloves.

Background: Rubber accelerators play a significant role in glove-related occupational contact dermatitis, especially among health care workers. Currently, there is limited information readily available outlining the accelerators used in specific medical examination and surgical gloves.

Objective: The aim of this study was to ascertain the accelerators used in medical examination and surgical gloves for major glove manufacturers within the United States.

Persistence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in a pulmonary nodule with late relapse.

Lung nodules are common diagnostic challenges in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and solid organ transplantation. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a known cause of lung abscess in these patients, but its ability to persist for months in a quiescent lung nodule and later cause recurrent infection is not well known or documented. A patient with a history of acute pre-B-cell lymphoblastic leukemia had enlargement and cavitation of a small right upper lobe pulmonary nodule 10 months after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

A serum amyloid P-binding hydrogel speeds healing of partial thickness wounds in pigs.

During wound healing, some circulating monocytes enter the wound, differentiate into fibroblast-like cells called fibrocytes, and appear to then further differentiate into myofibroblasts, cells that play a key role in collagen deposition, cytokine release, and wound contraction. The differentiation of monocytes into fibrocytes is inhibited by the serum protein serum amyloid P (SAP). Depleting SAP at a wound site thus might speed wound healing.

Reduction of bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis by serum amyloid P.

Fibrotic diseases such as scleroderma, severe chronic asthma, pulmonary fibrosis, and cardiac fibrosis kill tens of thousands of people each year in the U.S. alone.