The Journal of dermatological treatment
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Comparison of the efficacy and tolerability of 3% diclofenac sodium gel and 5% imiquimod cream in the treatment of actinic keratosis.
Topical diclofenac and imiquimod have been reported to be effective in the treatment of actinic keratosis, but a study to compare these two drugs has not been reported yet. ⋯ The two drugs were found to be equally effective and safe in the treatment of actinic keratosis but complete remission was very low. Therefore, topical treatments with these two drugs were not seen to be completely effective, and combined therapies and further studies are needed.
-
Case Reports
Pyoderma gangrenosum following tattoo placement in a patient with acute myelogenous leukemia.
A 37-year-old African American female with a diagnosis of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) being treated with chemotherapy presented with a lesion on her lower back within the confines of a newly inked tattoo. Five days after tattoo placement, she developed an oozing, indurated, necrotic plaque at the site. Four days later, she developed chills, fever, and neutropenia. ⋯ PG is an inflammatory skin disease associated with both cutaneous trauma and systemic disease, including hematologic malignancy. PG after tattoo placement, in both healthy patients and those with hematologic malignancies, has, to our knowledge, not yet been described in the literature. While further studies are necessary to investigate the link between PG and tattooing, oncologists may wish to counsel patients with leukemia to refrain from obtaining new tattoos.
-
Although the effectiveness of daily dosing regimens of 5% imiquimod cream for the treatment of superficial basal cell carcinomas (sBCC) has been documented by recent studies, concerns about long-term outcome remain. The majority of efficacy data is based on clinical clearance and limited histological examination which may not identify tumour presence at the periphery. ⋯ The results show agreement between the clinical and histological assessment of tumour clearance. However, the persistence of disease in one patient, although limited, indicates the need for cautious long-term follow-up studies on the use of 5% imiquimod cream for sBCC.
-
Editorial
Systematic selection bias: a cause of dramatic errors in the inference of treatment effectiveness.
Our understanding of the world around us is derived from our observations. The accuracy of our inferences depends on the representativeness of those observations. ⋯ Systematic selection bias occurs when the particular outcome observed caused the observation; this type of bias can lead to dramatic errors in inference. We describe examples of selection bias, provide a mathematical formulation of the systematic selection bias phenomenon, and discuss how biased observations may affect people's impressions of important issues in dermatology.