Posterior staphyloma (PS) is a hallmark of pathological myopia, corresponding to a circumscribed outpouching of the eyeball with choroidal thinning and inward scleral deformation at its edges. Its pathogenesis is still unclear, thus constituting a research priority as the prevalence of myopia is increasing worldwide. Recently, it has been suggested that the optic nerve sheaths or oblique muscles are potential promoters of PS through the traction or compression effect that they apply to the eye wall.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Contrasting with the lymphopenia classically reported after administration of glucocorticoids, a lymphocytosis has been sometimes observed in patients after glucocorticoid administration. We here determine prospectively the timing and magnitude of methylprednisolone (mPDN)-induced lymphocytosis and study the effects of concomitant propranolol administration on lymphocyte count (Ly).
Methods: Ly was measured before and 24 to 72hours after initiating mPDN treatment in 20 patients with immune-mediated inflammatory disorders (IMID).
Background: This study evaluated the safety and efficacy of salvage endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) for Barrett's neoplasia recurrence after radiofrequency ablation (RFA).
Methods: Data from patients at 16 centers were collected for a multicenter retrospective study. Patients who underwent at least one RFA treatment for Barrett's esophagus and thereafter underwent further esophageal ESD for neoplasia recurrence were included.
Background: Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease where activation of endothelial cells (ECs) at sites of skin lesions leads to increased blood flow, leakage of fluid into the skin, cellular infiltration, and vascular remodeling. To understand the disease duration and the sometimes vague systemic symptoms accompanying flares, the objective of this study was to examine if CSU comes with systemic vascular changes at the microcirculatory level.
Methods: We investigated CSU patients (n = 49) and healthy controls (HCs, n = 44) for microcirculatory differences by nailfold videocapillaroscopy (NVC) and for blood levels of the soluble EC biomarkers serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), soluble E-selectin, and stem cell factor (SCF).
Purpose: Myopic eyes combining gamma peripapillary atrophy and peripapillary staphyloma were sorted according to the presence of intrachoroidal cavitation (PICCs) or its absence (combinations). Visual field defects (VFDs) and factors discriminating these groups were analyzed.
Methods: These groups were sorted by optical coherence tomography.
Background: Chronic urticaria (CSU) is a chronic inflammatory mast cell-driven disorder of which reliable clinical data in Belgium are lacking. This study focusses on clinical characteristics of CSU patients presenting at an urban Immunology-Allergology department.
Methods: Outpatients with CSU were included from 2018 to 2021.
Background: Most common viral skin infections are not reportable conditions. Studying the population dynamics of these viral epidemics using traditional field methods is costly and time-consuming, especially over wide geographical areas.
Objective: This study aimed to explore the evolution, seasonality, and distribution of vaccinable and nonvaccinable viral skin infections through an analysis of Google Trends.
Importance: A potential relationship between meningioma and breast cancer was suggested 70 years ago. However, to date, no conclusive evidence is available on this topic.
Objective: To provide a comprehensive review of the literature on the association of meningioma with breast cancer, supported by a meta-analysis.
Purpose: Embolization of arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) before radiosurgery has been reported to negatively impact the obliteration rate. This study aims to assess treatment outcomes in a series of 190 patients treated by Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKRS) for previously embolized AVMs.
Methods: The institutional database of AVMs was retrospectively reviewed between January 2004 and March 2018.
Various surgical methods to prevent postoperative cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leaks during transsphenoidal surgery have been reported. However, comparative studies are scarce. We aimed to compare the efficacy of a fibrin-coated collagen fleece (TachoSil) versus a dural sealant (DuraSeal) to prevent postoperative CSF leakage.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Common cutaneous infestations and arthropod bites are not reportable conditions in most countries. Their worldwide epidemiologic evolution and distribution are mostly unknown.
Objective: To explore the evolution and geographic distribution of common cutaneous infestations and arthropod bites through an analysis of Google Trends.
Background: Real-life data on topical treatments in daily practice in patients with moderate acne are poorly characterized.
Objective: To investigate the drug survival of topical treatments administered to patients with moderate acne in a daily practice.
Methods: Survival analysis was performed on subjects (Belgian university hospital and private practice outpatient dermatology patients) with moderate acne who received topical therapies according to the current published guidelines.
Demodex folliculorum and brevis are commensal mites that live in low densities in human pilosebaceous follicles as part of the normal adult microbiota, but that give rise to demodicosis and, possibly, rosacea, when they proliferate excessively. This proliferation is favored by various factors, including age, marked immunosuppression, sebaceous gland hyperplasia, and hypervascularization-related factors. To study possible factors influencing mite proliferation, we explored the effects of different variables on Demodex densities (Dd) in a retrospective study of two groups of subjects selected on the basis of their clinical diagnosis: Demodex+, consisting of subjects with demodicosis or with centro-facial papulopustules suggesting rosacea (n = 844, mean Dd 263.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Scabies is a parasitic skin disease. Its clinical diagnosis may be challenging.
Methods: In a prospective observational study, we enrolled all consecutive patients ≥16 years of age with a presumptive diagnosis of scabies and all patients ≥16 years of age with a diffuse itchy dermatosis lasting for more than 1 week.
Background: Patients with rosacea and demodicosis have high facial skin Demodex densities (Dds), which decrease with benzyl benzoate (BB) treatment.
Objectives: To evaluate the impact of topical BB (+crotamiton) treatment on Dds and clinical symptoms during prolonged follow-up and to compare low (12% once daily) and high (12% twice daily or 20-24% once daily) BB dose regimens.
Methods: This retrospective study included 344 patients (103 rosacea, 241 demodicosis) observed for 7.
Primary microcephaly (PM) is characterized by a small head since birth and is vastly heterogeneous both genetically and phenotypically. While most cases are monogenic, genetic interactions between Aspm and Wdr62 have recently been described in a mouse model of PM. Here, we used two complementary, holistic in vivo approaches: high throughput DNA sequencing of multiple PM genes in human patients with PM, and genome-edited zebrafish modeling for the digenic inheritance of PM.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEpithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) has been proposed to be important for metastatic dissemination. However, recent studies have challenged the requirement of EMT for metastasis. Here, we assessed in different models of primary skin squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) whether EMT is associated with metastasis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSex differences are observed in the evolution of numerous inflammatory conditions. Women exhibit better clinical courses compared to men in acute inflammatory processes, yet worse prognosis in several chronic inflammatory diseases. Inflammatory markers are significantly different between prepubertal boys and girls, whose sex steroid levels are very low, suggesting genetics play a role.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFReprod Biol Endocrinol
January 2019
Background: Fertility preservation (FP) protocols in case of breast cancer (BC) include mature oocyte cryopreservation following letrozole associated controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (Let-COH). To date, the impact of Let-COH on the follicular microenvironment has been poorly investigated, although a high androgen/estrogen ratio was previously associated with low oocyte quality.
Methods: In this prospective study, follicular fluid (FF) steroid levels (estradiol, testosterone, progesterone) and cumulus cell (CC) gene expression related to oocyte quality (HAS2, PTGS2, GREM1) were compared between 23 BC patients undergoing Let-COH for FP and 24 infertile patients undergoing conventional COH without letrozole.
Acta Derm Venereol
January 2019
Papulopustular rosacea and demodicosis are characterized by non-specific symptoms, which can make clinical diagnosis difficult. This retrospective study of 844 patients assessed the diagnostic importance of clinical signs and symptoms that are poorly recognized as being associated with these conditions. In addition to well-known signs (vascular signs (present in 80% of patients), papules (39%), pustules (22%) and ocular involvement (21%)), other signs and symptoms (discreet follicular scales (93%), scalp symptoms (pruritus, dandruff or folliculitis; 38%) and pruritus (15%)) may also suggest a diagnosis not only of demodicosis, but also of papulopustular rosacea.
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