Laser treatment of acne scarring in skin of colour.

Acne vulgaris is a chronic inflammatory skin disorder that affects patients of all skin types. Acne scarring affects up to 95% of patients. Laser treatment is the most effective treatment for acne scarring.

Adverse effects of topical photodynamic therapy: a consensus review and approach to management.

Background: Topical photodynamic therapy (PDT) is widely used to treat superficial nonmelanoma skin cancer and dysplasia, and is generally well tolerated. However, as with all treatments, adverse effects may occur and awareness may facilitate approaches to prevention and management.

Objectives: To review the available evidence relating to the adverse effects of topical PDT, to help inform recommendations in updated clinical guidelines produced by the British Association of Dermatologists and British Photodermatology Group, and the efficacy of preventative and therapeutic approaches.

Conventional and combination topical photodynamic therapy for basal cell carcinoma: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Topical photodynamic therapy (PDT) is an established treatment option for low-risk basal cell carcinoma (BCC).

Objectives: To compare efficacy, cosmesis and tolerability of PDT for BCC with alternative treatments.

Methods: MEDLINE, PubMed, Embase and CENTRAL databases were searched from inception until 1 September 2017.

WITHDRAWN: Laser resurfacing for facial acne scars.

This review has been withdrawn as it has been updated by way of a new protocol and then a review, as the scope of the review has substantially expanded. The citation for the new updated review is as follows: Abdel Hay R, Shalaby K, Zaher H, Hafez V, Chi CC, Dimitri S, Nabhan AF, Layton AM. Interventions for acne scars.

Evaluation of the clinical efficacy of the 1,450 nm laser in acne vulgaris: a randomized split-face, investigator-blinded clinical trial.

Background:   The 1450 nm laser shrinks sebaceous glands histologically, reduces seborrhoea and has been shown in numerous small uncontrolled studies to improve inflammatory acne.

Objectives: To assess objectively the clinical efficacy and long-term outcome of the 1450 nm laser for inflammatory acne vulgaris.

Methods: Participants over 16 years of age with moderate to severe acne vulgaris were recruited from a secondary care dermatology department.

Compliance of renal transplant recipients with advice about sun protection measures: completing the audit cycle.

Renal transplant recipients are at increased risk for development of nonmelanoma skin carcinoma, owing to a number of causes, including ultraviolet exposure. It has been shown that, despite education, there is poor compliance by these patients with the advice given for protecting their skin from the sun. This repeat study was conducted to determine whether there had been an improvement in compliance over the last 6 years.

Inflammation in acne scarring: a comparison of the responses in lesions from patients prone and not prone to scar.

Background: Many patients with inflammatory acne suffer from significant scarring, which is disfiguring and difficult to treat. A cell-mediated immune response is considered to be involved in the pathogenesis of acne, although the extent of this response has been found to differ among patients.

Objective: To assess whether there were differences in the cell-mediated immune responses at different time points in inflamed lesion development and resolution in patients who were prone (S patients) and those with the same degree of inflamed acne who were not prone (NS patients) to develop scarring.

Efficacy of pulsed dye laser treatment of port wine stain malformations of the lower limb.

Background: There is relatively little information about treatment of port wine stains (PWS) of the lower limb. Few studies have specifically addressed the efficacy of pulsed dye laser (PDL) treatment of a PWS on the lower limb and there is no information on the relative efficacy at different sites on the lower limb. It has been suggested that treatment is not as successful when compared with the face and postinflammatory hyperpigmentation has been reported to be a significant problem.

Genetic and functional analyses of FH mutations in multiple cutaneous and uterine leiomyomatosis, hereditary leiomyomatosis and renal cancer, and fumarate hydratase deficiency.

Germline mutations of the fumarate hydratase (FH, fumarase) gene are found in the recessive FH deficiency syndrome and in dominantly inherited susceptibility to multiple cutaneous and uterine leiomyomatosis (MCUL). We have previously reported a number of germline FH mutations from MCUL patients. In this study, we report additional FH mutations in MCUL and FH deficiency patients.

Laser resurfacing for facial acne scars.

Background: Most people have acne at some stage during their life, with about one per cent being left with permanent acne scars. Recent laser techniques are thought to be more effective than chemical peels and dermabrasion.

Objectives: To assess the effects of laser resurfacing for treating facial acne scars.

The treatment of acne fulminans: a review of 25 cases.

The treatment of acne fulminans has been difficult. It is difficult to perform a controlled treatment trial due to the rarity of the complication. However, it is possible to compare four different therapeutic regimens which have evolved with time in the management of 25 patients over a period of 25 years.

The use of topical glycopyrrolate in the treatment of hyperhidrosis.

The use of an aqueous solution of 0.5% topical glycopyrollate was effective in the treatment of hyperhidrosis of the scalp and forehead after other treatments had proved ineffective; this appears to be the first report of its use in this condition.

Acne vulgaris in the elderly: the response to low-dose isotretinoin.

There is a very small number of patients who suffer from acne even in the sixth and seventh decades of life. These patients have suffered from acne for most of their lives, 30-60 years, and have often received multiple courses of antibiotics over many years. We saw 10 such patients over 4 years.

The compliance of renal transplant recipients with advice about sun protection measures.

Renal transplant recipients have an increased risk of developing non-melanoma skin cancer. Ultraviolet radiation is one of the major cofactors in the development of skin cancer in the immunosuppressed. In view of this, we undertook this study to determine the advice given to renal transplant recipients and their compliance with that advice.

Sudden deepening of pigmentation during haemodialysis due to severe haemolysis.

A 37-year-old woman with chronic renal failure developed pain in the right flank during haemodialysis followed by rapid and dramatic deepening of pigmentation. Investigation indicated that the cause was severe haemolysis most probably due to mechanical damage to red blood cells passing through a stenosis in a dialysis blood line. Severe haemolysis should be suspected in subjects who suffer rapidly increasing pigmentation during dialysis.

Adverse reactions following pulsed tunable dye laser treatment of port wine stains in 701 patients.

The pulsed tunable dye laser (PTDL) is generally considered to have a very low incidence of adverse effects, allowing it to become the treatment of choice for the majority of port wine stains (PWS). The low incidence of adverse effects has led to difficulties in determining the true incidence and type of adverse effect seen with this laser. We therefore undertook a retrospective study of 701 patients with PWS, who received 3877 full treatments to determine the incidence and type of adverse effects seen following treatment with the PTDL.