An Online Community for Patient with Psoriasis with Built-in Self-Reported Questionnaires.

This study presents an online psoriasis community developed with dermatologists in a PHR. We describe the interaction of users with this platform and the relationship between the use of self-report questionnaires, their results and users' subsequent contact with the healthcare system. Out of 2175 users that interacted with the platform, 477 visited the forums. 60% of those who completed questionnaires presented at least one abnormal result that prompted a recommendation for an outpatient visit. Although our data suggest a trend, we failed to find a statistically significant association between questionnaire severity and visits scheduling. To our knowledge, this is the first study that analyses the relationship between patient self-reported disease severity and the subsequent contact with the healthcare system.

Prevalence and characteristics of cutaneous sarcoidosis in Argentina.

BACKGROUND: Sarcoidosis is a multisystem granulomatous disease of unknown etiology. The incidence is higher in women than in men, according to some studies. Studies regarding prevalence and characteristics of cutaneous sarcoidosis in our region are scarce. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to describe the characteristics of patients with cutaneous sarcoidosis and to estimate its prevalence. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted of patients with cutaneous sarcoidosis between January 1, 2004 and April 30, 2019 at the Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires in Argentina. We included all patients age >17 years with biopsy-proven cutaneous sarcoidosis. Isolated cutaneous sarcoidosis was defined as the presence of epithelioid noncaseating granulomas on a skin biopsy without further evidence of systemic involvement. To estimate period prevalence, we only considered the subgroup of patients affiliated with our private health system. RESULTS: A total of 38 patients with cutaneous sarcoidosis were included. The median age at the time of diagnosis was 55.5 years. There was a striking female predominance in our series (73.7%). Overall, 15 patients (39.5%) had isolated cutaneous sarcoidosis and 23 (60.5%) had systemic sarcoidosis with cutaneous involvement. The median follow-up of the study population from histological diagnosis was 50 months (interquartile range, 24-10 months). Regarding skin involvement, 28 patients (73.7%) presented with only sarcoidosis-specific lesions, 6 (15.8%) presented with erythema nodosum, and 4 (10.5%) presented with both sarcoidosis-specific lesions and erythema nodosum. Treatment was given to 29 patients (73.6%), with systemic and topical corticosteroids being the most frequent. The crude prevalence of cutaneous sarcoidosis was 16.9 (95% confidence interval, 10.6-25.5) per 100,000 persons. CONCLUSION: One of the major findings of our study was that 40% of patients had isolated cutaneous sarcoidosis.