Does therapy with biological drugs influence COVID-19 infection? Observational monocentric prevalence study on the clinical and epidemiological data of psoriatic patients treated with biological drugs or with topical drugs alone.

Since the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, there has been an open debate on the impact of biological drugs used in the treatment of psoriasis. To define whether patients under treatment with biologics suffer from increased morbidity and mortality from COVID-19, compared to psoriatic patients treated only with topical drugs, we designed an observational monocentric prevalence study recording the personal and clinical data of psoriatic patients, with focus on the presentation of signs and symptoms related to COVID-19 in the period of time ranging from 1 January 2020 to 31 May 2020. A total of 180 patients were enrolled into two groups: 100 patients in the topical therapy group and 80 patients in the biological therapy group. No statistically significant difference was found between the groups regarding the prevalence of COVID-19 infection and symptoms at a bivariable analysis with adjustment for confounders. In conclusion, psoriatic patients under treatment with biologics do not seem to be more susceptible to COVID-19 compared to other psoriatic patients and we suggest not interrupting treatment with biological drugs, even in areas suffering from active outbreaks of the disease.

Emergency accesses in Dermatology Department during the Covid-19 pandemic in a referral third level center in the north of Italy.

During the lockdown period, most planned visits have been postponed and the number of accesses to emergency department (ED) has dramatically reduced. The aim of our study is to analyze the impact of the lockdown on the number, type, and severity of Dermatological ED diagnosis. We performed a retrospective review of all dermatological consultations in the ED of IRCSS San Matteo during the lockdown period in Italy (February 22-May 3 2020) and compared them with those from the same period in 2019. We noticed a sharply reduction in the number of dermatological consultations requested in the ED: from 164 patients in 2019 to 33 in 2020. Some diagnostic categories showed a significant difference with a higher incidence of vasculopathic lesions (0.6% vs 12.1%, P < .0001), urticarial rashes (8.5% vs 21.2%, P = .03), and scabies (3% vs 12.1%, P = .023). We observed an increase in the proportion of patients starting medications, before coming to the ED 26.2% in 2019 vs 66.7% in 2020 (P < .001). Furthermore, we noticed a significant increase in the average complexity of cases presenting to the ED in 2020, as proven by the increased need for biopsies and systemic therapy.

Efficacy of propranolol for cutaneous hemangiomas in premature children.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of propranolol for problematic infantile hemangiomas (IH), showing our experience on 24 children, with special focus on premature infants. METHODS: A retrospective observational study considered 24 patients who were given oral propranolol for the treatment of "problematic" IH. A multidisciplinary team, composed of a dermatologist, a pediatrician, a pediatric cardiologist, and a neonatologist, took part in the indication for propranolol and follow-up on all the patients. Propranolol was administered orally at the starting dose of 0.5-1 mg/kg/die and was gradually increased to the target dose of 2 mg/kg/die. A clinical gravity score, based on color, major diameter, thickness and texture was calculated for each IH, giving a numeric score before (t0) and after (tf) propranolol therapy. Improvement rate was evaluated in terms of score percentage difference between t0 and tf. RESULTS: All of the IH except one (96%), showed a variable grade of improvement, with a median score improvement of 69.1%. Median initial score in premature and term infants did not show any significant difference (P=0.38). Otherwise the two subgroups showed a significant difference in final scores: medium percentage improvement in premature and term infants, was respectively 80.9% and 49.6% (P<0.01). No significant side effects were reported during the treatment period. CONCLUSIONS: As pointed out in our study, IH in premature children showed a significantly better response to propranolol treatment.