Incidence of melanoma and keratinocytic carcinomas in patients evaluated by store-and-forward teledermatology vs. dermatology clinic.

BACKGROUND: It is unclear whether incidence of detected skin cancer in patients evaluated by store-and-forward teledermatology (SAF) vs. face-to-face consultation (F2F) significantly differs, and whether such differences are because of variations in patient demographics, diagnostic accuracy, or both. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study compares patient skin cancer risk profile, pre-post biopsy diagnostic accuracy, and detection rates of any skin cancer, melanoma, and keratinocytic carcinoma between all SAF teledermatology patients and a subset of randomly selected F2F consultations at VA-Boston Healthcare System in 2014. RESULTS: Patients in the teledermatology (n = 434) and F2F visit cohorts (n = 587) had similar baseline demographics except a higher proportion of F2F patients had prior history of skin cancer, 22% (131/587) vs. 10% (45/434), P < 0.001, and received biopsies, 27.2% (160/587) vs. 11.5% (50/434), P < 0.001. When adjusted for age, immunosuppression, and personal and family history of skin cancer, there were no significant differences between the two cohorts in detection rates for any skin cancer (9.5% vs. 5.8%, P = 0.3), melanoma (0.6% vs. 0%, P = N/A), or keratinocytic carcinoma (8.5% vs. 5.5%, P = 0.7). The two cohorts also had similar pre-post biopsy perfect diagnostic concordance, time from initial consult request to biopsy (45.5 d vs. 47.3 d, P = 0.8), and time from biopsy to definitive treatment (67.5 d vs. 65.4 d, P = 0.8). CONCLUSION: F2F patients were more likely to have prior history of skin cancer and receive biopsies. When adjusted for presence of skin cancer risk factors, incidence of detected melanoma, keratinocytic carcinoma, and any skin cancer was similar between SAF teledermatology and F2F patients.

Cutaneous mucinosis in a patient taking ustekinumab for palmoplantar psoriasis.

Discrete papular lichen myxedematosus (DPLM), asubset of localized lichen myxedematosus, is a rarecutaneous mucinosis of unknown etiology. We reporta case of a 57-year-old woman with palmoplantarpsoriasis who developed DPLM 8 weeks after addingustekinumab to a long-term course of methotrexate.The patient had previously failed 2 prior tumor necrosisfactor (TNF) inhibitors, adalimumab and etanercept.This case demonstrates an association between TNFinhibitor and ustekinumab use in a psoriasis patientand localized lichen myxedematosus for the secondtime in the literature. The presented case is of interestbecause of the rare diagnosis of DPLM, especially inassociation with the start of the anti-IL 12/23 agentustekinumab. The appearance of DPLM in this settingsuggests a possible etiology for the disease.

Effect of Psoriatic Arthritis on Treatment Response in Patients With Moderate to Severe Psoriasis.

BACKGROUND: Among patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis, efficacy, and tolerability of available treatments based on psoriatic arthritis (PsA) history are not well-described.
OBJECTIVE: We evaluate disease characteristics and treatment response variation in the moderate-to-severe psoriasis population based on PsA history.
METHODS: Simple-measure for assessing psoriasis activity (S-MAPA) was used to retrospectively analyze treatment responses.
RESULTS: 191 moderate-to-severe psoriatic patients, 58 with and 133 without rheumatologist-diagnosed PsA were analyzed. Regardless of PsA history, S-MAPA improvement was similar with biologic monotherapy (46.2 versus 44.1; P=0.74), traditional systemic monotherapy (62.29 versus 38.12; P=0.22), and combination treatments (64.62 versus 52.71; P=0.40) after 12 weeks. PsA patients on biologic monotherapy experienced a higher infection rate than patients without PsA (0.57% versus 0.19%; P=0.01). PsA patients experienced more adverse events (AEs) associated with traditional systemic monotherapy than biologic monotherapy (3.25 versus 1.04; P=.001).
LIMITATIONS: The relatively small PsA cohort was the primary limitation.
CONCLUSIONS: Patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis responded similarly to all treatments independent of PsA history. PsA patients received more overall treatments and more biologic monotherapy prescriptions. PsA patients had a greater infection risk on biologic monotherapy compared to those without PsA, and greater adverse events risk on traditional systemic monotherapy compared to biologic monotherapy.

J Drugs Dermatol. 2016;15(8):917-922.

Lower Socioeconomic Status is Associated With Decreased Therapeutic Response to the Biologic Agents in Psoriasis Patients.

BACKGROUND: Lower socioeconomic status is associated with poorer overall health outcomes. However, few studies have examined the impact of socioeconomic status on psoriasis. OBJECTIVE: To examine the impact of individual socioeconomic status on systemic therapeutic outcomes amongst psoriasis patients. METHODS: The study analyzed 156 psoriasis patients treated at the Tufts Medical Center Department of Dermatology from 2008-2014. Individual socioeconomic status was inferred from neighborhood income, defined as the percentage of households with income below the federal poverty line (% below FPL) in the patient's census tract. The following outcomes were compared between socioeconomic groups: improvement in simple measure for assessing psoriasis activity (S-MAPA) score at 12 weeks, primary and secondary drug failure rates, and incidence of documented medication non-adherence. RESULTS: Those patients living in relatively poorer neighborhoods (% below FPL ≤ 10%) experienced a significantly decreased improvement in S-MAPA score at 12 weeks of biologic treatment when compared to those in relatively richer neighborhoods (% below FPL >10%), 23.2% vs. 45.5%, P=0.021. Patients living in poorer neighborhoods also had a significantly higher rate of primary drug failure when treated with biologics (34.7% vs. 18.4%, P=0.039) and were significantly more likely to have ≥ 1 documented instance of medication non-adherence when treated with biologics (45.5% vs. 8.8%, P < 0.001). LIMITATIONS: Retrospective design, small sample size CONCLUSIONS: Our study offers preliminary data that suggests lower socioeconomic status may be associated with decreased clinical response to the biologic agents, presumably through decreased medication adherence.

Biologic and Conventional Systemic Therapies Show Similar Safety and Efficacy in Elderly and Adult Patients With Moderate to Severe Psoriasis.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: Despite the aging population, few studies have documented the treatment of geriatric psoriasis. The purpose of this study is to compare the efficacy, safety, and prescribing patterns of biologics and conventional systemic medications in elderly versus adult psoriasis. METHODS: All patient visits coded for psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis (ICD-9 696.1 or 696.0) at the Tufts Medical Center General Dermatology Clinic from January 1, 2008, to March 1, 2015 were included in this retrospective cohort study. The outcome measure used was the validated simple-measure for assessing psoriasis activity (S-MAPA), the product of the physician's global assessment and the body surface area. RESULTS: 194 patients who underwent 278 treatment courses were included in the study. 48 patients were included in the elderly cohort (≥ 65 years old) and 146 in the adult cohort (18-64 years old). There was no significant difference in S-MAPA improvement at 12 weeks between the two cohorts when treated with biologics (42.92% improvement in adults, 48.77% in elderly; P=0.498) or conventional systemics (43.96% and 51.82%, respectively; P=0.448). Within the elderly cohort, there was no significant difference in efficacy of biologics versus conventional systemics at any time point. Topical prescription rates were significantly higher in the elderly cohort ( P=0.004) while biologic prescription rates were significantly lower ( P=0.014) despite the same baseline S-MAPA in both age groups. For both biologics and conventional systemics, there was no statistically significant intergroup difference in the rate of adverse events ( P=0.322 for biologics; P=0.581 for conventional systemics) or infection ( P=0.753 for biologics; P=0.828 for conventional systemics). Within the elderly cohort, there was a higher rate of adverse events with conventional systemic treatment than with biologic treatment ( P=0.033). CONCLUSIONS: This study provides preliminary evidence to suggest that biologic and conventional systemic therapies are similarly safe and effective in the elderly and non-elderly cohorts. Within the elderly population, biologics may be a safer option than conventional systemic agents.

Systemic Treatment of Recalcitrant Pediatric Psoriasis: A Case Series and Literature Review.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: No systemic drugs are approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat pediatric psoriasis due to a lack of supporting data. The purpose of this study is to present cases demonstrating the use of systemic drugs in pediatric psoriasis. METHODS: In this case series, data were collected on patients ≤ 18 years old with moderate-to-severe psoriasis treated with systemic medications (traditional systemic drugs or biologics) from 2008 through 2014. Efficacy was measured using the validated simple measure for assessing psoriasis activity (S-MAPA), and the product of the body surface area and Physician Global Assessment. RESULTS: Twenty-seven patients aged 5 to 18 years were eligible, and 56 treatment courses were analyzed. Methotrexate (MTX) was the most frequently prescribed systemic (70%), followed by etanercept (59%). Clearance rates were highest on biologic medications (67% for etanercept and adalimumab, 33% for ustekinumab). Phototherapy, cyclosporine, and MTX were less effective in clearing psoriasis, although they were successful in improving S-MAPA ≥ 50% from baseline 100%, 67%, and 36% of the time, respectively. The most common adverse events were sunburn for patients on narrowband ultraviolet B phototherapy (14%), gastrointestinal intolerance and minor infections for patients on MTX (16% each), and minor infections for patients on etanercept (25%) and adalimumab (33%). The most common reasons for discontinuation were secondary failure (38% for etanercept, 33% for adalimumab) or lack of response (37% for MTX, 33% for cyclosporine). CONCLUSION: Although phototherapy, MTX, and cyclosporine are effective for controlling resistant pediatric psoriasis, concerns about long-term safety or inconvenience have led people to consider biologics in their place. However, there is a lack of literature on the use of biologics in pediatric psoriasis. These cases attest to the safety and efficacy of etanercept, adalimumab, and ustekinumab in pediatric psoriasis, expanding the treatment repertoire and guiding dermatologists in better managing recalcitrant pediatric psoriasis.

Nutritional modulation of cataract.

Lens opacification or cataract reduces vision in over 80 million people worldwide and blinds 18 million. These numbers will increase dramatically as both the size of the elderly demographic and the number of those with carbohydrate metabolism-related problems increase. Preventative measures for cataract are critical because the availability of cataract surgery in much of the world is insufficient. Epidemiologic literature suggests that the risk of cataract can be diminished by diets that are optimized for vitamin C, lutein/zeaxanthin, B vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids, multivitamins, and carbohydrates: recommended levels of micronutrients are salutary. The limited data from intervention trials provide some support for observational studies with regard to nuclear - but not other types of - cataracts. Presented here are the beneficial levels of nutrients in diets or blood and the total number of participants surveyed in epidemiologic studies since a previous review in 2007.

Diminishing risk for age-related macular degeneration with nutrition: a current view.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness in the elderly. Clinical hallmarks of AMD are observed in one third of the elderly in industrialized countries. Preventative interventions through dietary modification are attractive strategies, because they are more affordable than clinical therapies, do not require specialists for administration and many studies suggest a benefit of micro- and macro-nutrients with respect to AMD with few, if any, adverse effects. The goal of this review is to provide information from recent literature on the value of various nutrients, particularly omega-3 fatty acids, lower glycemic index diets and, perhaps, some carotenoids, with regard to diminishing risk for onset or progression of AMD. Results from the upcoming Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) II intervention trial should be particularly informative.

A nationwide survey of antimicrobial stewardship practices.

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to characterize hospital antimicrobial stewardship practices nationwide and to identify factors associated with the presence of these programs. METHODS: The first web-based survey was sent in 2009 to members of the Yankee Alliance and the Premier Healthcare Alliance, nationwide organizations of health-care providers. The second survey, a slightly modified version of the first, was sent in 2010 to a commercially purchased list of hospital pharmacy director e-mail addresses. RESULTS: A total of 406 responses were received from ~5890 providers targeted, for an overall response rate of ~7%. More than one half (206 of 406) of the respondents reported having what they considered to be a formal antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP). Among all respondents regardless of presence or absence of an ASP, 96.4% (351 of 364) were using some form of antimicrobial stewardship technique. Of those respondents working in hospitals without an ASP, 63.3% (114 of 180) had considered implementing one. After controlling for all significant variables, those that remained which were significantly associated with having an ASP were survey (Premier vs commercial), having an infectious disease consultation service, and having an infectious disease pharmacist. CONCLUSIONS: In this survey of 406 respondents from across the country, we found that just more than one half of hospitals had what they considered to be formal ASPs; however, the vast majority were using stewardship techniques to optimize the use of antibiotics. Common barriers to implementation of ASPs included staffing constraints and insufficient funding.