Vol. 39 No. 05

In 2005, a 22-year old student in South Carolina died from a fatal dose of lidocaine after she was given a topical anaesthetic gel by a spa employee and told to apply it from her groin to her ankle and cover it in plastic in preparation for hair removal treatment on her leg.

An age-specific evaluation of patients with pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) may allow for the development of focused algorithms for prioritizing assessment based on age, according to a cohort study of 356 cases of PG in JAMA Dermatology.

Immune system modulators are changing the ways in which dermatologists treat inflammatory skin diseases. But how best to use these medications and for which skin diseases isn’t always clear.

In this Q&A, Dr. Adrian Gaspar, a cosmetogynecologist in Argentina, addresses the use of lasers to treat incontinence. 

Is it misuse to use medication for off-label uses? A patient sues after developing facial pain and other symptoms associated with the use of a topical for scabies. Is this physician guilty of practicing medicine outside the standard of care?

The adoption of business concepts into medical practice creates challenges for physicians who have little business background. It places too much focus on the business of medicine and not enough on the practice of medicine.

Aesthetic practices that provide laser and light-based therapies should be cognizant of legal issues that may affect the practice. “Legal issues arise in all facets of medicine. However, in cosmetics, the patient’s expectation of outcomes is often in conflict with that of the clinician. There is a heightened potential for patient dissatisfaction that can ultimately lead to legal action,” says Dr. Mathew Avram.

The long-held belief that combining lasers with fillers could destabilize or damage fillers has largely been debunked. You can safely use both together, say physicians reporting at this year's ASLMS meeting. In this article, dermatologists cover how best to apply energy-based devices with cosmetic injectables safely and effectively.

A $78 single course of topical fluorouracil for keratinocyte carcinoma and actinic keratosis lesions, could lead to a savings in the hundreds of dollars in follow-up costs.

This study, which may have direct implications for treatment, explains why some actinic keratoses recur and progress after superficial destructive treatments - like cryotherapy.

“As we move toward finding a cure for psoriasis, what we are looking for are high performance drugs that provide durable response in between treatments and that lend themselves to patient compliance,” says Dr. George Martin.

The decrease in the diversity of skin microbiome in megacities may contribute to a higher incidence of skin diseases in more urbanized environments, researchers report.

Physicians should be aware of the warning signs that a biologic agent could be to blame when patients experience subacute or rapidly progressive neurologic changes, researchers say.

Treatment significantly improved event-free survival in patients with high-risk, surgically resectable, clinical stage III and IV melanoma, researchers report.

A newly launched diagnostic test by Myriad Genetics can differentiate malignant melanoma from benign skin lesions.