News

Although dermatologists have embraced mole-mapping techniques, including total body imaging and (to a lesser extent) dermoscopy, they appear to share the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) concerns that non-dermatologists might misuse the MelaFind (MELA Sciences) device, which an FDA advisory panel recently recommended for approval in a split decision.

Looming reimbursement cuts from government and commercial payers worry many dermatologists, all of whom fear a decline in practice profitability. Before you take dramatic cost-cutting measures, make a careful review of your practice's efficiency.

Anti-aging therapies continue to evolve along with technology. Rather than choosing more invasive procedures such as facelifts, patients seeking skin tightening or revolumizing are turning to a combination of laser treatment and injectable fillers, according to an expert.

Researchers have been trying for decades to find a better way to treat metastatic melanoma, looking for vaccines and immunotherapy options that may serve as successful therapies. On Call wondered how dermatologists view the flurry of activity around melanoma therapies.

There was some concern about a link between antiperspirants and Alzheimer's disease several years ago that has been revived by some consumer watchdog groups. The observation was made that renal dialysis patients who are unable to eliminate aluminum from the body experience a higher-than-average incidence of Alzheimer's disease. It was never proven that this was due to high aluminum levels.

Academic pediatric dermatologists can burn out for the same reasons as do their general dermatology colleagues, but they also face unique challenges, those in the field say.

Will 2011 be the year that medical malpractice reform becomes a reality? The new political alignment in Congress appears to offer more hope than in many years past, and advocates are anxious to move forward toward that long-illusive objective.

How many times have patients brought in newspaper clippings, pages torn out of magazines, printed Internet downloads and scribblings on paper shreds detailing skincare products about which they want to know more? In my practice, this occurs daily.

Defending one's online honor begins long before someone posts a cyber-slam, according to several experts who spoke at Cosmetic Surgery Forum 2010 in Las Vegas in December.

Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) require physicians not only to have effective clinical strategies, but also to recognize the legal and interpersonal consequences that can be associated with these conditions.

Novel Aesthetic options expected to make a splash in the United States in 2011 include new hyaluronic acid (HA) fillers, a new topical treatment for redness and a recently approved device for nonsurgical facelifting. Several dermatologists reported on these and other Aesthetic products either recently approved or under review by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), at the 2010 Cosmetic Surgery Forum in Las Vegas in December.

Dermatologist Neal Schultz, M.D., is doing his part to set the record straight. Frustrated by what he says is an Internet fraught with misinformation, Dr. Schultz and his 29-year-old son, Stuart, started DermTV.com, an online skincare video show dedicated to unbiased truth, he says.

As patients' faces change with age, so, too, should their options for treating lines and wrinkles. A variety of injectable fillers are on the market, but which ones to use on a given patient depends on the person's age, according to a cosmetic dermatologist.

The "brain drain" of academic dermatologists leaving teaching positions may be slowing, but individual institutions still report long wait times for patient appointments, and many physicians worry about who will teach future generations.

Discovered in the early 1800s, "Hydroquinone has primarily been used as a photographic developer through history," says Jeannette Graf, M.D., assistant clinical professor of dermatology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York.

An investigational oral Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor (CP-690,550; Pfizer) has met its safety and efficacy endpoints in a phase 2 trial for chronic moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, says the trial's lead investigator.

Dermatologists can achieve the best cosmetic surgery results - and even exceed patients' expectations - by identifying candidates who will benefit most from procedures Aesthetically and because they have reasonable expectations, says Ranella Hirsch, M.D., a dermatologist in Cambridge, Mass.

The first U.S. clinical practice guidelines for treatment of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) clarify use of antibiotics and devote substantial attention to invasive bacteremia, endocarditis, bone and joint infections, and pneumonia.

Cosmeceutical researchers are discovering new mechanisms to attack excess pigmentation, according to several physicians who spoke at the 2010 Cosmetic Surgery Forum in Las Vegas in December.

Once used as the go-to tools for filling facial lines and crevasses, fillers are now, for some facelift candidates, replacing the scalpel. Just call it the "nonsurgical facelift," says Deborah S. Sarnoff, M.D., clinical professor of dermatology, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York.

Even dermatologists who have left academia value the camaraderie, challenges and flexibility to be found there.

The use of fractional ablation and photodynamic therapy (PDT) effectively treats precancerous lesions and is well-tolerated by many patients, according to an associate professor and chief of division of dermatologic and cosmetic surgery at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York.

Although no large-scale studies support the utility of melanoma screening, an expert advises dermatologists to target high-risk patients to maximize the efficiency of screening efforts.

Recently, Dr. EMR spent a significant amount of money to add a comprehensive electronic health records system to his office. He has been told such a system will lessen his medical legal liability. Some of his physician friends suggest EHR systems will increase, rather than decrease, liability. Who is right?

Combining botanical products with prescription medications may provide patients with the best chance to slow down and reverse signs of aging skin. Not all botanical products are created equal, however. Formulation of the products can be as important as the ingredients themselves, according to a Miami cosmetic dermatologist.

Nanotechnology is putting a new spin on the age-old notion of gold as a skin-aging treatment, as researchers with the University of Missouri pursue a new emollient and dermal filler product that boasts gold as a key ingredient.

The importance of the role that diet, lifestyle and stress management plays in maintaining our general health and skin health has increasingly become a part of our conversation. As dermatologists, we can often read the internal health of the body, which is mirrored by the largest organ of the body - namely, the skin. In searching for a simple approach to inside/outside beauty, the concept of pH balance comes to mind.

Dermatologists who earn online continuing medical education (CME) credits playing Terra Derma, an interactive video game about malignant melanoma, may have to remind themselves that they’re not playing Super Mario Brothers.

The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) says it will continue to recommend that the public obtain vitamin D either from dietary supplements or foods naturally rich in or fortified with the vitamin.

Genentech, maker of an investigational oral drug targeting a mutated BRAF kinase protein, says the drug boosted overall survival in patients with metastatic melanoma, though the extent to which this occurred was not disclosed, MedPage Today reports.