Dermoscopy and its impact on skin cancer diagnostics.

Dermoscopy has clearly had a profound impact on the clinical diagnosis of pigmented lesions. It has been shown not only to be useful in the early diagnosis of melanomas but also, more recently, for the diagnosis of nonpigmented cutaneous malignancies. In this article, the authors will briefly explore the evolution of the use of this diagnostic technique along with how dermoscopy may be best utilized with future technologies.

Comparison of the efficacy and safety of the 308 nm excimer laser for the treatment of localized psoriasis in adults and in children: a pilot study.

The 308-nm excimer laser has been shown to be safe and efficacious in the treatment of localized mild-to-moderate plaque-type psoriasis in adults. However, the laser's safety and efficacy has not yet been demonstrated in children. Four of seven children with a mean age of 11.0 years and 12 of 18 adults with a mean age of 48.8 years completed the full protocol. The most common reason for incompletion was noncompliance unrelated to side effects. Both the children (p=0.0200) and the adult groups (p=0.0009) yielded a significant decrease in psoriatic severity scores of their respective target lesions. The children group had a greater reduction (p=0.008) from a mean baseline target (PSS) of 5.75+/-1.71 to final of 0.50+/-0.58 (91.3% reduction) as compared to the adult treatment group from a mean baseline psoriatic severity score of 5.00+/-1.15 to final of 1.92+/-1.11 (61.6% reduction). However, there was no statistical difference between the mean total treatments required to achieve this result (p=0.112). Side effects were common, albeit minor and well tolerated. In conclusion, the 308 nm excimer laser appears to be a safe and effective treatment for localized psoriasis in children as well as in adults.