An exploratory randomized clinical trial on negative pressure wound therapy for lower limb full-thickness skin grafts of dermatosurgical patients.

Full-thickness skin graft (FTSG) reconstructions of lower limbs are especially prone to wound complications. Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) enhances wound healing, but no broad evidence exists if it promotes graft take of lower leg FTSGs. In this investigator-initiated, prospective, randomised and controlled trial, 20 patients with ambulatory FTSG reconstruction for lower limb skin cancers were randomised for postoperative treatment with either NPWT, or conventional dressings.

Early clinical experience with a degraded 4 MeV electron beam in radiotherapy of superficial basal cell carcinoma.

The most common non-melanoma skin cancer is basal cell carcinoma (BCC). Surgery is the gold standard treatment but also non-surgical alternatives are needed. The purpose of this work was to present the early clinical experiences of degraded 4 MeV electron beam as a treatment method for superficial BCC.

Hyperspectral Imaging for Non-invasive Diagnostics of Melanocytic Lesions.

Malignant melanoma poses a clinical diagnostic problem, since a large number of benign lesions are excised to find a single melanoma. This study assessed the accuracy of a novel non-invasive diagnostic technology, hyperspectral imaging, for melanoma detection. Lesions were imaged prior to excision and histopathological analysis.

Differentiating Malignant from Benign Pigmented or Non-Pigmented Skin Tumours-A Pilot Study on 3D Hyperspectral Imaging of Complex Skin Surfaces and Convolutional Neural Networks.

Several optical imaging techniques have been developed to ease the burden of skin cancer disease on our health care system. Hyperspectral images can be used to identify biological tissues by their diffuse reflected spectra. In this second part of a three-phase pilot study, we used a novel hand-held SICSURFIS Spectral Imager with an adaptable field of view and target-wise selectable wavelength channels to provide detailed spectral and spatial data for lesions on complex surfaces.

Occurrence of newly discovered human polyomaviruses in skin of liver transplant recipients and their relation with squamous cell carcinoma in situ and actinic keratosis - a single-center cohort study.

To date 14 human polyomaviruses (HPyVs) have been identified. The newly found HPyVs have not been examined with regard to post-transplant skin carcinogenesis. To determine the occurrences in skin and possible pathological associations of the HPyVs, we studied their genoprevalences in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in situ or actinic keratosis and benign skin in liver transplant recipients (LiTRs); and of healthy skin in immunocompetent adults.

Cutavirus DNA in Malignant and Nonmalignant Skin of Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma and Organ Transplant Patients but Not of Healthy Adults.

Background: Three new parvoviruses of Protoparvovirus genus, bufavirus (BuV), tusavirus (TuV), and cutavirus (CuV), have recently been discovered in diarrheal stools. CuV was further detected in a proportion of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL)/mycosis fungoides skin samples and in one melanoma.

Patients And Methods: With novel multiplex quantitative polymerase chain reaction and antibody assays, we studied 3 patient groups for BuV, TuV, and CuV DNA and immunoglobulin G (IgG): CTCL patients, immunosuppressed solid-organ transplant recipients, and immunocompetent healthy adults.

[Diagnosis and treatment of actinic keratosis].

Actinic keratoses are premalignant skin lesions with the risk of converting into squamous cell carcinoma, and therefore they should be treated. Treatment modalities include cryotherapy, photodynamic therapy, carbon dioxide laser and also topical treatments such as imiquimode, ingenol mebutate, 5-fluorouracil and diclophenac. In the future, the treatment of actinic keratosis can be more often done in primary health care.

A Retrospective Study of Treatment of Squamous Cell Carcinoma In situ.

Squamous cell carcinoma in situ is an intra-epidermal malignancy of the skin with potential to progress to invasive carcinoma. Commonly used treatments are surgical excision, cryotherapy, photodynamic therapy, laser ablation, curettage with cautery, radiotherapy, topical 5-fluorouracil, and topical imiquimod. The efficacies of these different treatment modalities are compared in this retrospective study of 239 patients with squamous cell carcinoma in situ diagnosed and treated at our hospital during a period of one year.

IgG4-related disease mimicking chalazion in the upper eyelid with skin manifestations on the trunk.

IgG4-related disease is a recently defined inflammatory process characterized by IgG4-bearing plasma cells in the involved tissues. The most common sites of involvement are the pancreas, hepatobiliary tract, salivary glands, lymph nodes, retroperitoneum and orbit, especially the lacrimal glands. Other ocular or ocular adnexal sites are rare.

Genome-wide association study identifies new susceptibility loci for cutaneous lupus erythematosus.

Cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease of the skin with typical clinical manifestations. Here, we genotyped 906 600 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 183 CLE cases and 1288 controls of Central European ancestry. Replication was performed for 13 SNPs in 219 case subjects and 262 controls from Finland.

[Skin problems in a swollen lower limb].

Swollen lower limb is a diagnostic challenge for a physician. Common conditions causing swelling of lower extremities are chronic venous insufficiency and abnormalities in lymph drainage. Stasis dermatitis and lymphedema are manifestations of these defects.

Replication of GWAS-identified systemic lupus erythematosus susceptibility genes affirms B-cell receptor pathway signalling and strengthens the role of IRF5 in disease susceptibility in a Northern European population.

Objective: A large number of genes, including several not previously implicated in SLE susceptibility, have recently been identified or confirmed by genome-wide association studies (GWAS). In this study, we sought to replicate some of these results in Finnish SLE patients (n = 275) and control individuals (n = 356).

Methods: We genotyped 32 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 12 of the best-supported GWAS-identified SLE genes and loci.

Polymorphisms of the ITGAM gene confer higher risk of discoid cutaneous than of systemic lupus erythematosus.

Background: Lupus erythematosus (LE) is a heterogeneous disease ranging from mainly skin-restricted manifestations (discoid LE [DLE] and subacute cutaneous LE) to a progressive multisystem disease (systemic LE [SLE]). Genetic association studies have recently identified several strong susceptibility genes for SLE, including integrin alpha M (ITGAM), also known as CD11b, whereas the genetic background of DLE is less clear.

Principal Findings: To specifically investigate whether ITGAM is a susceptibility gene not only for SLE, but also for cutaneous DLE, we genotyped 177 patients with DLE, 85 patients with sporadic SLE, 190 index cases from SLE families and 395 population control individuals from Finland for nine genetic markers at the ITGAM locus.

Identification of MAMDC1 as a candidate susceptibility gene for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Background: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a complex autoimmune disorder with multiple susceptibility genes. We have previously reported suggestive linkage to the chromosomal region 14q21-q23 in Finnish SLE families.

Principal Findings: Genetic fine mapping of this region in the same family material, together with a large collection of parent affected trios from UK and two independent case-control cohorts from Finland and Sweden, indicated that a novel uncharacterized gene, MAMDC1 (MAM domain containing glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor 2, also known as MDGA2, MIM 611128), represents a putative susceptibility gene for SLE.

Tyrosine kinase 2 and interferon regulatory factor 5 polymorphisms are associated with discoid and subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus.

Lupus erythematosus (LE) is a heterogeneous disease ranging from skin-restricted manifestations to a progressive multisystem disease. The specific skin lesions include chronic cutaneous, subacute cutaneous and acute cutaneous LE. Both genetic and environmental factors are involved in the development of LE.

Variation in STAT4 is associated with systemic lupus erythematosus in a Finnish family cohort.

Objectives: To investigate whether 10 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and haplotypes in the STAT4 gene, previously associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in a Swedish case-control cohort, are also associated with SLE risk in a Finnish SLE family cohort.

Method: Genotyping was performed in 192 Finnish families, with 237 affected subjects and their healthy relatives, using the SNPstream genotyping system.

Results: Transmission disequilibrium test analysis provided the strongest signal of association for two linked SNPs: rs7582694 (p=0.

Evidence for genetic association and interaction between the TYK2 and IRF5 genes in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objective: Several candidate genes have been implicated in susceptibility for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a complex autoimmune disease. The proposed genes include members of the type I interferon (IFN) pathway and genes involved in immunological defense functions. Our aim was to systematically replicate 6 such genes, TYK2, IRF5, CTLA4, PDCD1, FCGR2A, and NOD2.

Mutations in the gene encoding the 3'-5' DNA exonuclease TREX1 are associated with systemic lupus erythematosus.

TREX1 acts in concert with the SET complex in granzyme A-mediated apoptosis, and mutations in TREX1 cause Aicardi-Goutières syndrome and familial chilblain lupus. Here, we report monoallelic frameshift or missense mutations and one 3' UTR variant of TREX1 present in 9/417 individuals with systemic lupus erythematosus but absent in 1,712 controls (P = 4.1 x 10(-7)).

The human GIMAP5 gene has a common polyadenylation polymorphism increasing risk to systemic lupus erythematosus.

Background: Several members of the GIMAP gene family have been suggested as being involved in different aspects of the immune system in different species. Recently, a mutation in the GIMAP5 gene was shown to cause lymphopenia in a rat model of autoimmune insulin-dependent diabetes. Thus it was hypothesised that genetic variation in GIMAP5 may be involved in susceptibility to other autoimmune disorders where lymphopenia is a key feature, such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Polymorphisms in the tyrosine kinase 2 and interferon regulatory factor 5 genes are associated with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a complex systemic autoimmune disease caused by both genetic and environmental factors. Genome scans in families with SLE point to multiple potential chromosomal regions that harbor SLE susceptibility genes, and association studies in different populations have suggested several susceptibility alleles for SLE. Increased production of type I interferon (IFN) and expression of IFN-inducible genes is commonly observed in SLE and may be pivotal in the molecular pathogenesis of the disease.

Haplotype associations define target regions for susceptibility loci in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease characterized by diverse and variable clinical manifestations. The etiology of SLE is still unknown, but both environmental and genetic factors are involved. Recent genome-wide scans and candidate genes studies in different ethnic groups have already suggested susceptibility loci for SLE, but most of the genetic component remains unexplained.