Caring for transgender populations: A primer for the dermatopathologist.

With increasing access to electronic health records, patients may encounter dermatopathology reports more readily. Dermatopathologists should consider their impact and interactions with transgender patients, who may face specific health and healthcare inequities. Rendering accurate diagnosis for skin diseases requires accurate information about patient's sex assigned at birth and gender identity. Understanding how sex and gender identity data flow between electronic health records, laboratory information systems, insurance billing systems, and patients will be important to avoid patient misgendering, to render accurate diagnoses, to maintain consistency in dermatopathology reports, and to avoid insurance billing denials. Dermatopathologists have important roles to build patient trust in the healthcare system and to help dermatologists diagnose, treat, and characterize skin diseases in transgender populations.

Preordering Periodic Acid-Schiff Staining: A Quality Improvement Study.

ABSTRACT: Periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) stain is a commonly used ancillary test for inflammatory and infectious dermatoses, yet infrequently changes the diagnosis. Previous studies have shown that clinical suspicion and histopathologic features are poor predictors of PAS positivity. Current appropriate use criteria from the American Society of Dermatopathology supports PAS staining when histopathologic features could be consistent with a dermatophyte infection. At the authors' institution, PAS stains are preordered on biopsies of inflammatory and infectious diagnoses to aid in a timelier sign out. Our aim was to reduce the percentage of PAS stains preordered on all dermatology specimens over a 6-month period without reducing the percentage of fungal infections identified. Review of a 12-month preintervention period found that our laboratory received 6104 biopsies for which PAS stain was preordered on 616 (10.1%). Based on a review of the preintervention period, preordering PAS on cases with clinical suspicion for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma was stopped unless there was clinical suspicion for eczematous dermatitis, vesiculobullous disorders, or fungal infection. The proposed intervention resulted in a 3.7% reduction in the number of PAS stains ordered while PAS-positivity rate remained unchanged. The described quality improvement process may be used as a model for other laboratories.

Joint AAD-NPF Guidelines of care for the management and treatment of psoriasis with topical therapy and alternative medicine modalities for psoriasis severity measures.

Psoriasis is a chronic, inflammatory, multisystem disease that affects up to 3.2% of the United States population. This guideline addresses important clinical questions that arise in psoriasis management and care and provides recommendations based on the available evidence. The treatment of psoriasis with topical agents and with alternative medicine will be reviewed, emphasizing treatment recommendations and the role of dermatologists in monitoring and educating patients regarding benefits as well as risks that may be associated. This guideline will also address the severity assessment methods of psoriasis in adults.

Ethical and professionalism issues in dermatopathology: A cross-sectional survey of American Society of Dermatopathology Members.

BACKGROUND: Data regarding ethical/professional issues affecting dermatopathologists are lacking despite their importance in establishing policy priorities and educational content for dermatopathology. METHODS: A 14-item cross-sectional survey about ethical/professional issues in dermatopathology was distributed over e-mail to members of the American Society of Dermatopathology from June to September 2019. RESULTS: Two hundred sixteen surveys were completed, with a response rate of 15.3%. Respondents ranked appropriate and fair utilization of healthcare resources (n = 83 or 38.6%) as the most often encountered ethical/professional issue. Conflict of interest was ranked as the most urgent or important ethical/professional issue (n = 83 or 39.3%). One hundred thirty-three (61.6%) respondents felt "somewhat" or "not at all" well equipped to handle ethical dilemmas in practice and 47 (22.8%) respondents identified a major or extreme burden (eg, have considered resigning/retiring) due to ethical challenges. CONCLUSIONS: Areas of priority in ethics and professionalism issues can guide future policy and educational content in dermatopathology.

Distinct compartmentalization of immune cells and mediators characterizes bullous pemphigoid disease.

Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is an autoimmune blistering disease characterized by recruitment of leucocytes into skin and release of damaging enzymes, resulting in epidermal detachment and blister formation. To better understand the role of leukotriene B4 (LTB4) and other inflammatory factors in BP pathophysiology, we conducted microscopic and immunohistochemical analyses of preserved skin biopsy sections and conducted flow cytometry and ELISA analyses of matched blood and blister fluid from BP patients. Neutrophils predominated in BP blister fluid, which also contained monocytes/macrophages and T cells, but few to no eosinophils and B cells. In contrast, BP skin histology showed a different pattern, with abundant neutrophils but eosinophils being the predominant immune cell type. LTB4 pathway and neutrophil activation markers were prevalent in BP skin lesions and strongly associated with perivascular neutrophils. Blister fluid neutrophils, monocytes/macrophages and eosinophils all exhibited increased surface expression of leukotriene A4 hydrolase and neutrophil elastase (P = .002 for both). Blister fluid was also enriched in interleukins (IL)-1α, IL-1ß, IL-8, IL-10, IL-18, monocyte colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Our findings suggest differential leucocyte recruitment from blood into dermis and from dermis into blister, which correlates with disease activity, and presents potential new treatment opportunities for BP.

Joint American Academy of Dermatology-National Psoriasis Foundation guidelines of care for the management and treatment of psoriasis in pediatric patients.

Psoriasis is a chronic, multisystem, inflammatory disease that affects approximately 1% of children, with onset most common during adolescence. This guideline addresses important clinical questions that arise in psoriasis management and provides evidence-based recommendations. Attention will be given to pediatric patients with psoriasis, recognizing the unique physiology, pharmacokinetics, and patient-parent-provider interactions of patients younger than 18 years old. The topics reviewed here mirror those discussed in the adult guideline sections, excluding those topics that are irrelevant to, or lack sufficient information for, pediatric patients.

Joint American Academy of Dermatology-National Psoriasis Foundation guidelines of care for the management of psoriasis with systemic nonbiologic therapies.

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disease involving multiple organ systems and affecting approximately 2% of the world's population. In this guideline, we focus the discussion on systemic, nonbiologic medications for the treatment of this disease. We provide detailed discussion of efficacy and safety for the most commonly used medications, including methotrexate, cyclosporine, and acitretin, and provide recommendations to assist prescribers in initiating and managing patients on these treatments. Additionally, we discuss newer therapies, including tofacitinib and apremilast, and briefly touch on a number of other medications, including fumaric acid esters (used outside the United States) and therapies that are no longer widely used for the treatment of psoriasis (ie, hydroxyurea, leflunomide, mycophenolate mofetil, thioguanine, and tacrolimus).

S-100 protein and SOX10-positive breast carcinoma mimicking metastatic melanoma.

We present a case detailing a 70-year-old female with a history of triple-negative breast carcinoma (TNBC) of the left breast and contralateral stage pT2a nodular melanoma of the right upper arm who underwent sentinel lymph node biopsy of the right axilla demonstrating a metastatic epithelioid tumor that was strongly positive for S-100 protein and SOX10. The tumor cells were negative for HMB-45 and Melan-A and positive for CK7 and other breast markers (GCDFP15, mammaglobin, and GATA3). While concerning for metastatic melanoma based on clinical history and initial immunohistochemistry, tumor morphology and subsequent immunohistochemistry was supportive of metastatic breast adenocarcinoma. This case demonstrates a rare but perilous diagnostic pitfall of triple-negative breast carcinomas that strongly and diffusely express S-100 protein and SOX10 mimicking melanoma.

Validation of Image Quality and Diagnostic Accuracy Using a Mobile Phone Camera Microscope Adaptor Compared With Glass Slide Review in Teledermatopathology.

New modalities of evaluating histopathology, such as whole-slide imaging, have been validated in the field of dermatopathology but are often unfeasible and unavailable in developing countries. Widely available across the globe, mobile phone camera technology represents a potential simple and inexpensive method of imaging histologic slides through the use of a mobile phone camera microscope adaptor. This study aims to validate the use of a commercially available adaptor in the diagnosis of inflammatory and infectious conditions in dermatopathology. Representative images were taken of slides for fifty-four cases using the adaptor and shared through a cloud-based platform with five dermatopathologists who rendered diagnoses and judged the quality of the images. After a washout period of 8 weeks, the same cases were assessed by the same dermatopathologists using the original glass slides. The intraobserver concordance rate was 93.3%, and the quality of the mobile phone images was rated as "excellent" or "diagnostic" in 94.4% of the cases. This study validates the use of this low-tech and low-cost adaptor as a reliable tool in teledermatopathology. Limitations of the study include those inherent to use of the adaptor and the limited panel of diagnoses. The primary value of this device may be in developing countries, but its practicality and ease of use lend itself to use in academic and consultative settings in the developed world as well.

Joint AAD-NPF guidelines of care for the management and treatment of psoriasis with awareness and attention to comorbidities.

Psoriasis is a chronic, inflammatory, multisystem disease that affects up to 3.2% of the US population. This guideline addresses important clinical questions that arise in psoriasis management and care, providing recommendations on the basis of available evidence.

Joint AAD-NPF guidelines of care for the management and treatment of psoriasis with biologics.

Psoriasis is a chronic, inflammatory multisystem disease that affects up to 3.2% of the US population. This guideline addresses important clinical questions that arise in psoriasis management and care, providing recommendations based on the available evidence. The treatment of psoriasis with biologic agents will be reviewed, emphasizing treatment recommendations and the role of the dermatologist in monitoring and educating patients regarding benefits as well as associated risks.

Joint American Academy of Dermatology-National Psoriasis Foundation guidelines of care for the management and treatment of psoriasis with phototherapy.

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disease involving multiple organ systems and affecting approximately 3.2% of the world's population. In this section of the guidelines of care for psoriasis, we will focus the discussion on ultraviolet (UV) light-based therapies, which include narrowband and broadband UVB, UVA in conjunction with photosensitizing agents, targeted UVB treatments such as with an excimer laser, and several other modalities and variations of these core phototherapies, including newer applications of pulsed dye lasers, intense pulse light, and light-emitting electrodes. We will provide an in-depth, evidence-based discussion of efficacy and safety for each treatment modality and provide recommendations and guidance for the use of these therapies alone or in conjunction with other topical and/or systemic psoriasis treatments.

Multiple keratin granulomata: A potential histologic clue to cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma responding to programmed cell death protein 1 inhibitor therapy.

We present histologic features of a locally advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) treated with the programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) antagonist, pembrolizumab, with a partial response. This contributes to a growing body of literature supporting the efficacy of pembrolizumab in treatment of surgically unresectable cSCC. We also provide a detailed description of the histologic features, particularly keratin granulomata with adjacent lymphocytic aggregates and fibrosis, observed in cSCC under treatment with a PD-1 antagonist.