[The satisfied patient in aesthetic dermatology. Consensus work on patient satisfaction in botulinum toxin A treatment]. / Der zufriedene Patient in der ästhetischen Dermatologie. Konsensusarbeit zur Patientenzufriedenheit in der Behandlung mit Botulinumtoxin A.

Patient satisfaction is an important factor for successful therapy. Many consensus reports have been published regarding correct treatment with botulinum toxin A (BTX-A). However, the focus of most of these publications has been on technical aspects and the important topic of patient satisfaction was often only one aspect among others. The Swiss Group of Esthetic Dermatology and Skincare (SGEDS) pursued these questions in a two-day consensus meeting. Patients of aesthetic dermatology are healthy and therefore place higher demands in contrast to ill patients of medical dermatology. This demands a great deal of the physician, the practice staff and the conditions in the practice to accommodate the special requirements of aesthetic clients. Informative consultation and patient education are of major importance; this also holds true for clinical performance and care before, during and after treatment with BTX-A. This publication aims at finding ways to gain greater patient satisfaction in daily practice.

The place of botulinum toxin type A in the treatment of focal hyperhidrosis.

BACKGROUND: Hyperhidrosis (primary or secondary) is excessive sweating beyond that required to return body temperature to normal. It can be localized or generalized, commonly affecting the axillae, palms, soles or face, and can have a substantial negative effect on a patient's quality of life. IMPACT OF DISEASE: Objective evaluation comprising quantitative assessment (gravimetric and Minor's iodine starch test) and subjective evaluation (Dermatology Quality of Life Index and Hyperhidrosis Impact Questionnaire) allow accurate assessment of the impact of hyperhidrosis on patients. BOTULINUM TOXIN TYPE A: Botulinum toxin type A acts by inhibiting the release of acetylcholine at the presynaptic membrane of cholinergic neurones. It has proved useful in treating a number of diseases relating to muscular dystonia and is now proving beneficial in treating hyperhidrosis. Clinical trials investigating botulinum toxin type A use in axillary and palmar hyperhidrosis show significant benefits with few side-effects reported, with a favourable impact also being seen on patient quality of life. Botulinum toxin type A injections are generally well-tolerated with beneficial results lasting from 4 to 16 months. CONCLUSIONS: Botulinum toxin type A injections are an effective and well-tolerated treatment for hyperhidrosis. This paper proposes a positioning of this treatment along with current established treatments, and highlights the role of botulinum toxin type A as a valuable therapy for the treatment of hyperhidrosis.

Idiopathic localized unilateral hyperhidrosis: case report of successful treatment with botulinum toxin type A and review of the literature.

BACKGROUND: Localized unilateral hyperhidrosis (LUH) is a rare disorder of unknown origin. We describe a patient with LUH on the forearm, where a fracture was identified as a past injury. OBSERVATIONS: We treated the patient with botulinum toxin type A injections, and he was complaint free during the 6 months after treatment. In addition, the initially strong positive results of the iodine starch test (Minor sweat test) were negative in the affected region after treatment. CONCLUSIONS: This relatively new therapeutic modality already established for axillary, palmar, and plantar hyperhidrosis seems to be efficient in LUH. As the former therapeutic approaches are rather disappointing, and as botulinum toxin type A locally applied shows limited adverse effects, we think a trial of botulinum toxin type A is justified in cases of LUH, even as a first-line treatment. In addition, the literature considering localization and causes of LUH is reviewed.

[Treatment of hyperfunctional facial lines with botulinum toxin]. / Behandlung hyperfunktioneller Gesichtslinien mit Botulinumtoxin.

Lines and wrinkles in the face are not only due to intrinsic and photoaging, but are also caused by lines of facial expression due to muscular action. Botulinum toxin A, which blocks the cholinergic transmission resulting in flaccid paralysis, is a powerful therapeutic tool in the treatment of frown lines, glabellar lines, crow-feet and platysma-bands. It has to be kept in mind, however, that the benefits of this treatment are transient and repeated injections are necessary. A treatment guide with injection sides and concentration of the toxin is presented in the context of the current literature.

[Case report on therapy with granulocyte stimulating factor in diabetic foot]. / Fallbericht zur Therapie mit Granulozyten stimulierendem Faktor beim diabetischen Fuss.

Several pathogenetic factors such as peripheral neuropathy, vasculopathy and infection are responsible for the development of diabetic foot ulcerations. An important factor contributing to the high infection risk in diabetic patients is a defect in neutrophil granulocytes. Deficiencies in neutrophil chemotaxis, phagocytosis and respiratory burst activity with the decrease of the super- and peroxids are known to be associated with diabetes. Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) increases the release of neutrophils from the bone marrow and improves neutrophil function. A 78-year old patient with non-insulin-dependent diabetes presented with ulcerations of both big toes and a malum perforans on the right sole. He also had generalized arteriosclerosis as well as a polyneuropathy with a dry foot and typical foot deformation as well as decreased in sensitivity. Intensive local care for 35 days led to no improvement of the ulcerations. Then G-CSF (Neupogen) was administered in a total dose of 165 million IU over 11 days; the daily dose varied between 15-30 million IU depending on the absolute leucocyte count. In addition 500 mg of oral ciprofloxacin (Ciproxin) was given b.i.d. This treatment led to a significant improvement of the lesions. Within 11 days cost analysis suggests G-CSF may be a cost-effective addition to antimicrobial therapy in diabetic foot infection.

[Successful therapy with tetracycline and nicotinamide in cicatricial pemphigoid]. / Erfolgreiche Therapie mit Tetracyclin und Nikotinaminsäure beim vernarbenden Pemphigoid.

We describe a case of cicatricial pemphigoid in a 92-year-old female with extensive mucocutaneous involvement. She developed extensive hemorrhagic blistering with severely bleeding lesions, that healed with scarring. The conjunctivae showed extensive synechia. The diagnosis was based on clinical and histopathological features as well as immunofluorescence findings and immunoblot analysis. There was no clinical response to topical corticosteroids. The patient was given tetracycline and nicotinamid and showed rapid improvement of the mucocutaneous lesions within a few weeks. The clinical features, differential diagnosis and various treatment modalities of cicatricial pemphigoid are briefly reviewed, whereby the use of tetracycline and nicotinamide is discussed as an alternative effective and safe therapy for this potentially incapacitating condition.

[Toxin treatment of sweat pearls. A review of the treatment of hyperhidrosis with a special view of a new therapy option using botulinum toxin A]. / Die Giftbehandlung von Schweissperlen. Eine Ubersicht der Hyperhidrose-Behandlung unter speziellem Blickwinkel der neuen Therapieoption mit Botulinumtoxin A.

Hyperhidrosis is defined as an excess of sweating beyond the amount needed to cool down elevated body temperature. We distinguish a primary and a secondary form, where an underlying endocrinological or neurological disease is found. The innervation of eccrine sweat glands is sympathetic but the transmitter is cholinergic (ACh). There are variable modalities in the treatment of focal hyperhidrosis, such as topical aluminium chloride application, tapwater iontophoresis, anticholinergic drugs or surgery (axillary sweat gland extraction, liposuction or thoracoscopic sympathectomy). Only recently botulinum toxin (BTX) has been introduced as a therapeutic tool for hyperhidrosis. As BTX inhibits the release of ACh at the cholinergic synapse, perspiration is arrested completely after intradermal injection. BTX is a very potent alternative to the surgical approach in the treatment of hyperhidrosis, though the treatment must be repeated regularly to maintain the effect.

Revival of the use of botulinum toxin: application in dermatology.

Botulinum toxins (BTXs) comprise a family of neurotoxins designated as types A-G, which are produced by the anerobic bacterium Clostridium botulinum. BTX-A blocks the cholinergic transmission resulting in flaccid paralysis and autonomous nerve dysfunction. It has become a powerful therapeutic tool in a variety of conditions over the last decades. Primarily used in the treatment of strabismus, blepharospasm and hemifacial spasms, BTX has only recently been recognized in dermatology. The use of BTX in dermatology includes the treatment of focal hyperhidrosis, hyperfunctional facial lines as well as paralysis of the anal sphincter in the therapy of anal fissures. The mechanism of action is described and the current literature is reviewed.

[Type A botulinum toxin: a new methods in treating focal hyperhidrosis. A summary of various possibilities in hyperhidrosis therapy with special emphasis type A botulinum toxin injections]. / Botulinumtoxin A: Ein neuer Weg in der Behandlung der fokalen Hyperhidrose. Eine Zusammenstellung der verschiedenen Möglichkeiten in der Hyperhidrose-Therapie unter spezieller Gewichtung von Botulinumtoxin A-Injektionen.

Hyperhidrosis is defined as an excess of sweating over the amount necessary for thermoregulation. Essential focal hyperhidrosis is a overactivity of the sweat glands of the axilla, palms and soles probably due to a disorder of the sympathetic nervous system. The therapy is difficult, even though there are many therapeutic options. Beside the effort to treat the psychovegetative disorder (autogenic training or acupuncture), there are efforts to seal the lumen of terminal sweat ducts using aluminiumchlorhydroxide application or iontophoresis. Surgery has the aim to eliminate sweat glands either by excision or by denervation. It is also possible to use chemical denervation with systemic anticholinergics. Only recently the local chemodenervation with injections of botulinum toxin (BTX) was added to the therapeutic tools of focal hyperhidrosis. We present an overview of several therapeutic options in consideration of BTX.

[Botulinum toxin: from poison to drug. A historical review]. / Botulinumtoxin: Vom Gift zum Medikament. Ein historischer Rückblick.

Botulinumtoxin (BTX) is a neurotoxin produced from Clostridium botulinum under anaerobic conditions and is responsible for botulism, a notifiable, bacterial form of food poisoning. The first case of botulism is believed to have occurred in 1735. An epidemic in Southern Germany in 1793 claimed the death of over the half of those patients who had become ill through eating uncooked blood sausages. The term "pharmakon" is Greek and implicates that a drug originates from poison (potion, remedy). Theophrastus Bombast von Hohenheim known as Paracelsus (1493/94-1541) first described this duality with his dictum "alle ding sind gift und nichts on gift; alein die dosis macht das ein ding kein gift ist" (only the dose makes a remedy poisonous). In Baden-Württemberg in 1817, the poet and physician Dr. Justinus Christian Kerner described the symptoms of botulism, so that at this time botulism was also called Kerner disease. Until the turn of the century the reason for poisoning was not known. Van Ermengem succeeded in isolating the anaerobic bacterium causing botulism, but the specific mechanism of BTX was only established after the second World War. In the late seventies the ophthalmologist Dr. Alan Scott used BTX the first time in the treatment of strabismus. The drug was then used in the treatment of several muscle spasticities such as, for example, torticollis or hemifacial spasm. Only recently BTX has been successfully used for focal hyperhidrosis. We review the history of botulinum toxin from its discovery in the nineteenth century and the research into its effect in the middle of the 20th century up to its clinical use at the present time.

T cells and T cell-derived cytokines as pathogenic factors in the nonallergic form of atopic dermatitis.

A subgroup of patients with atopic dermatitis are known to have normal serum total immunoglobulin E levels, undetectable specific immunoglobulin E, and negative skin prick tests towards allergens. This form of the disease has been termed nonallergic atopic dermatitis. In this study, we found that, among 1151 chronic atopic dermatitis patients, about 10% had normal serum immunoglobulin E levels with no evidence for immunoglobulin E sensitization. We investigated immunologic mechanisms of patients with "allergic" and "nonallergic" atopic dermatitis using peripheral blood and skin biopsy samples. Our data suggest that T cells are likely involved in the pathogenesis of both forms of atopic dermatitis. Skin T cells equally responded to superantigen, staphylococcal enterotoxin B, and produced interleukin-2, interleukin-5, interleukin-13, and interferon-gamma in both forms of the disease. Interleukin-4, however, was not detectable in the skin biopsies of both atopic dermatitis types and was secreted in very low amounts by T cells cultured from the skin biopsies. Moreover, skin T cells from nonallergic atopic dermatitis patients expressed lower interleukin-5 and interleukin-13 levels compared with allergic atopic dermatitis patients. Accordingly, T cells isolated from skin biopsies of atopic dermatitis, but not from the nonallergic atopic dermatitis, induced high immunoglobulin E production in cocultures with normal B cells that was mediated by interleukin-13. In addition, B cell activation with high CD23 expression was observed in the peripheral blood of atopic dermatitis, but not nonallergic atopic dermatitis patients. These data suggest, although high numbers of T cells are present in lesional skin of both types, a lack of interleukin-13-induced B cell activation and consequent immunoglobulin E production in nonallergic atopic dermatitis.

Skin homing (cutaneous lymphocyte-associated antigen-positive) CD8+ T cells respond to superantigen and contribute to eosinophilia and IgE production in atopic dermatitis.

In allergic inflammations of the skin, activation of CD4+ T cells was demonstrated to play an important role; however, a minor role for CD8+ T cells is implied. In the present study, we compared cutaneous lymphocyte-associated Ag (CLA)-expressing CD4+ and CD8+ subsets, which were isolated from peripheral blood and lesional skin biopsies in atopic dermatitis (AD) patients. We demonstrated that CD8+CLA+ T cells proliferate in response to superantigen and are as potent as CD4+CLA+ T cells in IgE induction and support of eosinophil survival. In atopic skin inflammation, the existence of high numbers of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells was demonstrated by immunohistochemistry and by culturing T cells from skin biopsies. In peripheral blood, both CD4+ and CD8+ subsets of CLA+CD45RO+ T cells were in an activated state in AD. The in vivo-activated CLA+ T cells of both subsets spontaneously released an IL-5- and IL-13-dominated Th2 type cytokine pattern. This was confirmed by intracytoplasmic cytokine staining immediately after isolation of the cells from peripheral blood. In consequence, both CD4+ and CD8+, CLA+ memory/effector T cells induced IgE production by B cells mainly by IL-13, and enhanced eosinophil survival in vitro by delaying eosinophil apoptosis, mainly by IL-5. These results indicate that in addition to the CD4+ subset, the CD8+CLA+ memory/effector T cells are capable of responding to superantigenic stimulation and play an important role in the pathogenesis of AD.

[11 cases of anal Bowen's disease]. / 11 Fälle von analem M. Bowen.

Bowen's disease of the anal region is a rare, slow-growing, intraepidermal squamous-cell carcinoma (carcinoma in situ). If surgical excision is incomplete, there is a risk of subsequent development of malignancy and metastasis. Between 1980 and 1995 we treated 11 patients (8 female, 3 male) with anal Bowen's disease. The mean age was 55 (34-75) years. The main reason for excision was: pain (4), itching (3), bleeding (3) and a disturbing lump (3). The intraoperative findings were in all cases a lesion at the anocutaneous line: perianal or intra-anal tumor (6), erosion (2) or ulceration (2) as well as lichenoid lesion (4) or hyperpigmentation (3). The procedure was excision of the lesion in 10 cases. Only in one case was a biopsy taken. 3 patients had to be operated on a second time for reasons of radicality. 5 years after primary diagnosis, one patient developed a recurrent invasive squamous-cell carcinoma and had to undergo perineo-abdominal rectum amputation with postoperative radiotherapy (2 years after operation). Only one patient underwent a biopsy, which produced the diagnosis of invasive squamous-cell carcinoma. He underwent combined chemo-radiotherapy. The symptoms of anal Bowen's disease are unspecific and the clinical findings are uncharacteristic. The recommended therapy is complete surgical excision. With complete excision no recurrences do occur.