News

Physicians immersed in the world of continuing medical education (CME) say big changes are happening. And doctors of all specialties, including dermatology, will be affected by the emerging CME focus: individual outcomes improvement.

Dermatologist Peggy Fuller, M.D., looks at the world as a vast opportunity to help those in need. In 2005, the Charlotte, N.C., physician embarked on a two-week mission trip to Sri Lanka. The post-tsunami sabbatical wasn't to provide medical care; she was charged with physically helping to build homes and disperse food vouchers to ensure the devastated country's children would be fed.

Thanks to ongoing refinements with radiofrequency (RF) and ultrasound-based contouring modalities, these treatments are becoming more versatile and patient-friendly, according to physicians who spoke at the Cosmetic Surgery Forum that took place in Las Vegas in December.

Patients have often complained that Dr. Speak has a tendency to not only rush them during office visits, but also to be condescending when speaking to them. Until two years ago he had never been sued. He is perplexed with this lawsuit, which has a peculiar twist. During the course of the negligence suit, Dr. Speak finds out that the plaintiff would never have brought the lawsuit if not for Dr. Speak's arrogance.

With Republicans in control of the House of Representatives, dermatologists and other physicians may be in for some good - and some bad - news as the drive to slash the federal deficit heats up in Washington.

Introduced recently to the Aesthetic market is the concept of "sublative" fractional resurfacing (Syneron, Candela), which uses radiofrequency to partially ablate and coagulate tissue. Though cleared by the Food and Drug Administration in 2009, this new technology received its clearance for fine lines and wrinkles in July 2010.

Determining the proper course of treatment of hemangiomas in pediatric patients can be difficult, as clinical data are sparse. Propranolol has become increasingly popular for off-label treatment, but it comes with significant risks, says Beth A. Drolet, M.D., professor of pediatrics and dermatology, vice chairwoman of dermatology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.

An ex vivo study suggests that some commonly used woundcare products could compromise surgical sutures. Researchers chose to study this topic because little research in this area exists, says Whitney Valins, a clinical research fellow working with Brian Berman, M.D., at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

The economic downturn has certainly affected your dermatology practice, decreasing patient volume and employee morale while increasing your overhead. The most significant challenge, however, may lie in the impact of the recession on your patients.

Parents may be unnecessarily urging their children to avoid certain foods under the mistaken belief that allergies may be triggering kids' atopic dermatitis, according to a physician.

The number of older physicians who are practicing is giving rise to questions from groups such as the National Patient Safety Foundation. On Call asked dermatologists whether there was any process in their area for handling doctors whose mental and physical abilities might be diminishing, but who were unaware their ability to practice effectively was being hampered by slowing cognitive abilities.

I am challenged every day by children with skin disease that has no evidenced-based approach to evaluation or treatment. The trickiest issue is that my medical recommendations seldom have enough specific evidence to prove safety and efficacy, so I have to be very familiar with the wide range of potential risks and weigh them carefully against the potential benefit in each case.

A recent study1 has looked at the extent and variability of vitamin D deficiency in patients with basal cell nevus syndrome (BCNS). It does not reach any surprisingly new conclusions, but rather adds details on the scope of that deficiency, as has been seen in a growing body of literature across a wide range of maladies.

Risk stratification is crucial in helping clinicians identify which melanoma patients would benefit most from adjuvant therapy in the hopes of avoiding tumor recurrence. Though much work still needs to be done, researchers say they are closer to identifying which combination of gene markers can best assess the risk of recurrence in melanoma patients and who should receive adjuvant therapy.

A novel potential treatment is on the horizon for hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia (HED), according to the director of research at a patient advocacy foundation.

After more than 20 years of widespread use, pulsed-dye lasers remain the therapy of choice in treating port wine stains in children and infants. Still, there have been no significant developments in recent years, and there is some disagreement regarding when treatment of port wine stains should begin.

The concept of pH-balanced products was introduced many years ago as an effective marketing strategy for soaps and moisturizers. pH-balanced is a consumer-friendly term for "neutral" pH. These products are usually formulated around a pH of 5 to 5.5. The idea is that neutral pH products will not cause stinging or burning when applied to sensitive, diseased or injured skin.

Speaking to a group may appear easy and even second nature to some physicians, but the ability to direct important, memorable messages to different target audiences requires practice. Though they may excel in their medical specialty, many physicians are not natural pedagogues comfortable speaking in front of a group.

Fat will be a major focus for research and development for both therapeutic drugs and medical devices in the coming years, and the next generation of treatments are sure to be minimally invasive, according to one dermatologist who spoke at Cosmetic Surgery Forum 2010, held in Las Vegas in December.

Dermatologists worldwide must remain vigilant against community acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA). And for potentially serious CA-MRSA infections, dermatologists should enlist help from infectious disease experts.

Physicians are relying on ultrasound and laser energy, the latter sometimes in combination with radiofrequency (RF) energy, to provide the minimally invasive fat treatments patients crave. In particular, the addition of lasers has reduced the invasiveness of liposuction.

Pediatric melanomas are uncommon, but because melanoma is not always as easily diagnosed in children as in adults, it is critical to perform biopsies for pediatric patients just as one would for adults, an expert says.

Usually, cellulitis is a straightforward diagnosis to the dermatologist, but atypical presentations and a list of clinically similar dermatoses mimicking the condition can confuse the clinician and lead to misdiagnosis. Accurately recognizing the variants of cellulitis and its differential diagnoses is crucial to diagnose the condition and prescribe appropriate therapy.

Pediatric patients are threatened by infestations such as bedbugs, head lice and scabies, so parents need to be vigilant of these risks, according to the chief of the division of pediatric dermatology at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.

Dermatologist Brooke Jackson, M.D., of Chicago, has made big strides building a running community where there was none previously: in Hyde Park.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use of Zostavax (Merck), a live attenuated Varicella zoster virus vaccine, for the prevention of shingles in people ages 50 to 59 years old. The drug previously was approved for use in people ages 60 and older.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Yervoy (ipilimumab) for treatment of metastatic melanoma.

Roche officials say phase 2 trials of vismodegib, the company’s experimental oral skin cancer drug, suggest that the treatment has the ability to shrink advanced basal cell carcinoma tumors in some patients, Dow Jones Newswires reports.

New research suggests that a protein associated with wound healing could prove helpful in preventing the spread of tumors or fibrosis, Medical News Today reports.

Patients with recent-onset Parkinson’s disease (PD) tend to have a high prevalence of insufficient vitamin D levels, but - contrary to expectation - concentrations of the vitamin do not appear to decline as the disease progresses, Medical News Today reports.