Publications by authors named "Steven Thng"

Article Synopsis
  • * A new non-invasive technique called multispectral Raster-Scanning Optoacoustic Mesoscopy (ms-RSOM) is being tested to objectively measure the severity of psoriasis by analyzing skin features, including blood volume and oxygen levels.
  • * Early results indicate that ms-RSOM can differentiate skin inflammation levels based on metrics like epidermal thickness and blood volume, and it has shown promise in tracking treatment effectiveness, highlighting its potential for regular clinical use.
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  • * A literature review showed 35 studies, with tofacitinib being the most commonly researched oral JAKi and ruxolitinib the most frequently studied topical JAKi, while different JAKi may vary in effectiveness due to their receptor selectivity.
  • * The use of JAKi, either alone or with therapies like phototherapy, shows a favorable risk-benefit profile, with mild side effects commonly reported but no serious health risks linked to the treatment.
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Quantitative evaluation of vitiligo is crucial for assessing treatment response. Dermatologists evaluate vitiligo regularly to adjust their treatment plans, which requires extra work. Furthermore, the evaluations may not be objective due to inter- and intra-assessor variability.

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Background: Eblasakimab, an interleukin (IL)-13 receptor α1 antagonist, blocks IL-4 and IL-13 signaling through the type 2 receptor.

Objective: The safety and efficacy of eblasakimab was evaluated in adults with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis (AD).

Methods: In this phase 1b randomized, double-blinded study, 52 patients with moderate-to-severe AD received weekly subcutaneous injections of eblasakimab 200, 400, or 600 mg, or placebo for 8 weeks.

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Malassezia globosa is abundant and prevalent on sebaceous areas of the human skin. Genome annotation reveals that M. globosa possesses a repertoire of secreted hydrolytic enzymes relevant for lipid and protein metabolism.

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Background: The treatment of vitiligo can be challenging and depends on several factors such as the subtype, disease activity, vitiligo extent, and treatment goals. Vitiligo usually requires a long-term approach. To improve the management of vitiligo worldwide, a clear and up-to-date guide based on international consensus with uniform stepwise recommendations is needed.

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Background: The treatment of vitiligo can be challenging. Up-to-date agreed consensus recommendations on the use of topical and systemic therapies to facilitate the clinical management of vitiligo are currently lacking.

Objectives: To develop internationally agreed-upon expert-based recommendations for the treatment of vitiligo.

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Article Synopsis
  • A handheld, non-invasive confocal Raman system was used to study skin differences in people with atopic dermatitis (AD) and psoriasis, which are both inflammatory skin conditions.
  • The study found that the amount of water in the skin decreases in the order of healthy, psoriasis, and AD, indicating varying levels of hydration.
  • Additionally, the research showed differing levels of ceramides and cholesterol between the skin types, which could help in accurately classifying these conditions and developing targeted topical treatments.
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Background: Skin diseases impact significantly on the quality of life and psychology of patients. Obesity has been observed as a risk factor for skin diseases. Skin epidermal barrier dysfunctions are typical manifestations across several dermatological disturbances.

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Importance: Patients and physicians often have differing opinions on the patient's disease severity. This phenomenon, termed discordant severity grading (DSG), hinders the patient-physician relationship and is a source of frustration.

Objective: To test and validate a model explaining the cognitive, behavioral, and disease factors associated with DSG.

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Article Synopsis
  • * Topical treatments are the first-line option for managing melasma, with hydroquinone being the standard due to its effectiveness, though it has some side effects.
  • * For patients unresponsive to standard treatments, topical tranexamic acid (TXA) alone or with other therapies is becoming an alternative option, supported by recent evidence highlighted in the review.
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Vitiligo patients may desire laser hair removal, skin rejuvenation, vascular treatments, and other laser or intense pulsed light (IPL) assisted treatments. However, there is a risk of inducing new depigmented patches (Koebner phenomenon). In absence of guidelines on the safe use of laser or IPL in vitiligo patients, dermatologists tend to be reluctant to administer these treatments.

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form the dominant eukaryotic microbial community on the human skin. The genus possesses a repertoire of secretory hydrolytic enzymes involved in protein and lipid metabolism which alter the external cutaneous environment. The exact role of most secreted enzymes, including those in interaction with the epithelial surface, is not well characterized.

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Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic and pruritic skin inflammatory disease causing a significant burden to health care management and patient's quality of life. Seemingly healthy skin or non-lesional sites on AD patients still presents skin barrier defects and immune response, which can develop to AD at a later stage. To investigate further the balance between the epidermal barrier impairment and intrinsic immune dysregulation in AD, we exploited multispectral Raster-Scanning Optoacoustic Mesoscopy (ms-RSOM) to image lesional and non-lesional skin areas on AD patients of different severities non-invasively to elucidate their structural features and functional information.

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The diagnosis of non-tumorous facial pigmentation disorders is crucial since facial pigmentations can serve as a health indicator for other more serious diseases. The computer-based classification of non-tumorous facial pigmentation disorders using images / photographs allows automated diagnosis of such disorders. However, the classification performance of existing methods is still not satisfactory due to the limited real-world images available for research.

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The ability to monitor oxygen delivery in microvasculature plays a vital role in measuring the viability of skin tissue and the probability of recovery. Using currently available clinical imaging tools, it is difficult to observe non-invasive hemodynamic regulation in the peripheral vessels. Here we propose the use of a novel multispectral raster-scanning optoacoustic mesoscopy (RSOM) system for noninvasive clinical monitoring of hemodynamic changes in the skin microvasculature's oxy- (HbO) and deoxy-hemoglobin (Hb), total hemoglobin (HbT) and oxygen saturation (rsO).

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Accurately diagnosing and describing the severity of vitiligo is crucial for prognostication, treatment selection and comparison. Currently, disease severity scores require dermatologists to estimate percentage area of involvement, which is subjected to inter and intra-assessor variability. Previous studies focus on pure skin but vitiligo on the face, which has a more serious impact on patients' quality of life, was completely neglected.

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Background: Smartphone apps could support patients and caregivers in disease self-management. However, as patients' experiences and needs might not always align with clinical judgments, the eliciting and engaging of perspectives of all stakeholders in the smartphone app design process is of paramount importance.

Objective: The aims of this study are to better understand the needs of and challenges facing caregivers and health care professionals (HCPs) who care for children with atopic dermatitis (AD) and to explore the desirable features and content of a smartphone app that would support AD self-management.

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