Psoriasis, metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular risk factors. A population-based study.

BACKGROUND: Psoriasis is a very prevalent systemic chronic inflammatory disease. Major cardiovascular events are the main cause of mortality in these patients which suggests an association between psoriasis and traditional cardiovascular risk factors. OBJECTIVE: To identify classic cardiovascular risk factors and metabolic syndrome (MS) in patients with psoriasis, their possible association with its severity and compare it with the non-psoriatic population. METHODS: This is an observational and cross-sectional population study in Lleida (Spain) from a joint hospital/primary care database. RESULTS: The database comprised 398 701 individuals. There were 6868 cases registered as psoriasis (1.7%), and 499 of them (7.3%) were classified as moderate-severe psoriasis. Patients with psoriasis had a higher prevalence of traditional cardiovascular risk factors than non-psoriatic population: diabetes mellitus 2 (13.9% vs 7.4%, OR 2.01), dyslipidaemia (28.8% vs 17.4%, OR 1.92), arterial hypertension (31.2% vs 19.0%, OR 1.93), obesity (33.7% vs 28.1%, OR 1.30), altered fasting basal glycaemia (21.4% vs 15.1%, OR 1.54), low cholesterol HDL (38.1% vs 32.3%, OR 1.29), hypertriglyceridaemia (45.7% vs 35.2%, OR 1.55) and high waist circumference (75.7% vs 72.3%, OR 1.19). MS was more prevalent in psoriatic patients (28.3% vs 15.1%, OR 2.21), and cardiovascular risk factors were similar between psoriasis severity groups. Psoriatic patients had a higher prevalence of ischaemic heart disease (3.3% vs 1.8%, OR 1.87) and vascular cerebral accidents (1.8% vs 1.2%, OR 1.55). A model for MS showed a significant nonlinear relationship with age and sex and significant differences between patients with and without psoriasis. CONCLUSION: We found statistically significant differences in relation to the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors, MS and major cardiovascular events in psoriatic patients. However, differences were not seen between psoriasis severity groups. Our work reinforces the need for a multidisciplinary approach and close monitoring of cardiovascular risk factors in these patients to prevent a cardiovascular event.

[Scarring alopecia]. / Alopecias cicatriciales.

Scarring alopecia refers to a group of disorders of various etiologies that cause permanent hair loss. In this article, we focus on primary cicatricial alopecia, a group of diseases in which the hair follicle is the main target of the inflammatory process. These disorders are currently classified as lymphocytic, neutrophilic, or mixed according to the cells that make up the inflammatory infiltrate. The pathogenesis of the majority of these conditions is not fully understood and they may have similar clinical features, often making it necessary to perform 1 or more skin biopsies in order to reach a diagnosis. Management depends on early and accurate diagnosis and aggressive treatment in some cases in order to prevent follicular destruction and scarring.

Epidemiology of Psoriasis. A Population-Based Study. / Características epidemiológicas de la psoriasis. Un estudio poblacional.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Psoriasis is a chronic immunoinflammatory skin disease very frequent in the western world. Several authors have tried to calculate its prevalence in different regions, although most of them obtained the data from surveys and there are few publications from Mediterranean areas. The objective of our study was to analyze the prevalence and severity of psoriasis in Lleida (a northeastern region in Spain), identify age and sex specific differences and compare our results with other European series. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A joint database of primary care medicine and the dermatology department was obtained from the entire province of Lleida with epidemiological data and psoriasis diagnosis and treatment codification. RESULTS: A corrected database was obtained with 398,701 individuals and 6,868 of them (1.72%) were coded with the diagnosis of psoriasis. The prevalence was significantly higher in men than in women (1.88% vs 1.56%, OR=1.21, 95% CI: 1.15-1.27). The highest prevalence of psoriasis was found in the 61-70 years group (2.90%) and psoriasis in population under 18 years of age was 0.30%. In our sample, 7.27% of the patients were classified as moderate-severe psoriasis (499/6,868). CONCLUSION: This study reports the prevalence and severity of psoriasis in a large Mediterranean region sample, obtaining the information through a electronic database. This study reveals a lower prevalence of psoriasis compared to other European countries, and the proportion of severe psoriasis (based on treatment criteria) is lower than in other studies. We emphasize that these differences could probably due to genetic background, life style and diet.

[Skin metastasis as the lst manifestation of bronchogenic carcinoma]. / Metástasis cutáneas como primera manifestación de carcinoma broncogénico.

Cutaneous metastases as internal neoplasm manifestation are not very frequent. However, the lung cancer in male, is the first cause of cutaneous metastases. The skin metastases may be the first clinical manifestation of cancer in these patients. We report two cases of lung neoplasm in whose first manifestation was metastases of skin. We have reviewed the literature.

[Prolonged and severe photodermatitis, an early manifestation of ataxia telangiectasia]. / Fotodermatitis prolongada y severa, una manifestación precoz de la ataxia-telangiectasia.

We report two new cases of ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T) in two child brothers. The first symptom of the disease was a serious and prolonged pellagra-like photodermatitis. This rare manifestation of the has not be reported before and it could be explain by a defect in DNA repair.

Herpes zóster diseminado infantil / Disseminated Pediatric Herpes Zoster

No disponible

Alopecias cicatriciales / Scarring Alopecia

Las alopecias cicatriciales constituyen un grupo de trastornos que dan lugar a una pérdida permanente de cabello como consecuencia de diversos procesos. En este artículo nos centraremos en las alopecias cicatriciales primarias (ACP), un grupo de enfermedades foliculocéntricas en las que el folículo piloso es la principal diana del proceso inflamatorio. Actualmente se clasifican según la celularidad del infiltrado inflamatorio en linfocíticas, neutrofílicas y mixtas. La patogenia de muchas de ellas sigue siendo desconocida. Algunas presentan similitudes clínicas que dificultan el diagnóstico, lo que hace en muchos casos necesaria la práctica de una o más biopsias cutáneas. En el manejo de estas entidades es necesario un diagnóstico preciso de forma precoz y un tratamiento agresivo en algunos casos, con objeto de evitar la destrucción folicular y el desarrollo de una alopecia cicatricial (AU)

Scarring alopecia refers to a group of disorders of various etiologies that cause permanent hair loss. In this article, we focus on primary cicatricial alopecia, a group of diseases in which the hair follicle is the main target of the inflammatory process. These disorders are currently classified as lymphocytic, neutrophilic, or mixed according to the cells that make up the inflammatory infiltrate. The pathogenesis of the majority of these conditions is not fully understood and they may have similar clinical features, often making it necessary to perform 1 or more skin biopsies in order to reach a diagnosis. Management depends on early and accurate diagnosis and aggressive treatment in some cases in order to prevent follicular destruction and scarring (AU)