Arch Dermatol
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Recession of the frontal hairline is a common event in postmenopausal women. This has been shown not to be a marker of gross androgenization, and is usually a progressive nonscarring alopecia. Six postmenopausal women, who developed a progressive frontal scarring alopecia, were studied and their clinical and laboratory data, as well as the results of scalp biopsy specimens in all six patients, were analyzed and compared with recognized forms of scarring alopecia and recently described findings in androgenetic alopecia. ⋯ Progressive frontal recession in postmenopausal women may show clinical features of a fibrosing alopecia. The histologic findings are indistinguishable from those seen in lichen planopilaris. However, the absence of associated lesions of lichen planus in all six women raises the possibility that this mode of follicular destruction represents a reaction pattern triggered by the events underlying postmenopausal frontal hairline recession.
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Physicians increasingly use Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drugs (medication) for unlabeled (off-label) indications. The ethical and legal implications of these actions are not always clear. In this article, I examine the common law and federal statutory regulations concerning this issue and also explore some of the ethical and financial issues involved.
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Analysis of the most frequently cited dermatology articles and the journals in which they appear identifies and emphasizes the impact of works of colleagues and predecessors, recognizes key advances in cutaneous medicine and surgery, and adds useful data about historical developments in dermatology. Use of citation analysis to examine the dermatologic literature reveals quantitative information about authors, articles, and journals helpful in identifying classic works and high-impact journals. We analyze the characteristics of all dermatology articles cited 100 or more times in one of the 10 most highly ranked clinical dermatology journals as indicated by the Institute of Scientific Information (Philadelphia, Pa) database from 1945 through 1990 and also discuss the standard and, as well, more recently described bibliometric indexes for dermatologic journals. ⋯ Citation frequency and citation analysis reveal useful and interesting information about scientific communication. The data on citation classics we describe can be interpreted in many ways, but certainly reflects the attention that articles have received over the past 48 years. The half-life of the average citation classic of about 10 years reflects the rapid pace of advances in the science and practice of dermatology over the past several decades. This information, along with current bibliometric indexes, may assist physicians in optimizing the time they spend reading the medical literature.