Cutaneous manifestations in an Italian military COVID hub.

BACKGROUND: The outbreak of the pandemic Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by a novel coronavirus named Severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), affecting a high number of patients in Italy, forced a great number of doctors, even dermatologists, to work in the first lines in the dedicated departments. We analyzed the features and the incidence of dermatological issues emerged during the hospitalization due to COVID-19 and absent before. METHODS: All the SARS-CoV-2 positive patients hospitalized in Celio Military Hospital - COVID hub no-intensive care wards from March 16, 2020 until May 4, 2020 were evaluated by dermatologists several times during the hospital stay. RESULTS: Ninety-six patients (15 civilians and 81 Italian servicepeople) were enrolled: 34 (35.4%) patients developed cutaneous manifestations; 15 (16.0%) suffered from skin dryness; 5 (5.2%) irritant contact dermatitis; 4 (4.2%) seborrheic dermatitis; 4 (4.2%) morbilliform rashes; 3 (3.1%) petechial rashes and 3 (3.1%) widespread hives. CONCLUSIONS: A deeper knowledge of cutaneous manifestations in military and civilian hospitalized COVID-19 patients could suggest more effective treatments to win the battle against SARS-CoV-2.

Italian Guidelines in diagnosis and treatment of alopecia areata.

Alopecia areata (AA) is an organ-specific autoimmune disorder that targets anagen phase hair follicles. The course is unpredictable and current available treatments have variable efficacy. Nowadays, there is relatively little evidence on treatment of AA from well-designed clinical trials. Moreover, none of the treatments or devices commonly used to treat AA are specifically approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The Italian Study Group for Cutaneous Annexial Disease of the Italian Society of dermatology proposes these Italian guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of Alopecia Areata deeming useful for the daily management of the disease. This article summarizes evidence-based treatment associated with expert-based recommendations.

Correction to: Clinicopathological predictors of recurrence in nodular and superficial spreading cutaneous melanoma: a multivariate analysis of 214 cases.

In the original version of this article [1], published on 7 November 2017, affiliation 18 has been incorrectly assigned to the authors Serena Magi and Laura Mazzoni. They are only affiliated to the Skin Cancer Unit, Istituto Tumori Romagna (IRST), Meldola, Italy (affiliation 5).

Clinicopathological predictors of recurrence in nodular and superficial spreading cutaneous melanoma: a multivariate analysis of 214 cases.

BACKGROUND: Nodular melanoma (NM) accounts for most thick melanomas and because of their frequent association with ulceration, fast growth rate and high mitotic rate, contribute substantially to melanoma-related mortality. In a multicentric series of 214 primary melanomas including 96 NM and 118 superficial spreading melanoma (SSM), histopathological features were examined with the aim to identify clinicopathological predictors of recurrence. METHODS: All consecutive cases of histopathologically diagnosed primary invasive SSM and NM during the period 2005-2010, were retrieved from the 12 participating Italian Melanoma Intergroup (IMI) centers. Each center provided clinico-pathological data such as gender, age at diagnosis, anatomical site, histopathological conventional parameters, date of excision and first melanoma recurrence. RESULTS: Results showed that NM subtype was significantly associated with Breslow thickness (BT) at multivariate analysis: [BT 1.01-2 mm (OR 7.22; 95% CI 2.73-19.05), BT 2.01-4 mm (OR 7.04; 95% CI 2.54-19.56), and BT > 4 mm (OR 51.78; 95% CI 5.65-474.86) (p < 0.0001)]. Furthermore, mitotic rate (MR) was significantly correlated with NM histotype: [(MR 3-5 mitoses/mm2 (OR 2.62; 95% CI 1.01-6.83) and MR > 5 mitoses/mm2 (OR 4.87; 95% CI 1.77-13.40) (p = 0.002)]. The risk of recurrence was not significantly associated with NM histotype while BT [BT 1.01-2.00 mm (HR 1.55; 95% CI 0.51-4.71), BT 2.01-4.00 mm (HR 2.42; 95% CI 0.89-6.54), BT > 4.00 mm. (HR 3.13; 95% CI 0.95-10.28) (p = 0.05)], mitotic rate [MR > 2 mitoses/mm2 (HR 2.34; 95% CI, 1.11-4.97) (p = 0.03)] and the positivity of lymph node sentinel biopsy (SNLB) (HR 2.60; 95% CI 1.19-5.68) (p = 0.007) were significantly associated with an increased risk of recurrence at multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS: We found that NM subtype was significantly associated with higher BT and MR but it was not a prognostic factor since it did not significantly correlate with melanoma recurrence rate. Conversely, increased BT and MR as well as SNLB positivity were significantly associated with a higher risk of melanoma recurrence.

Baseline factors influencing decisions on digital follow-up of melanocytic lesions in daily practice: an Italian multicenter survey.

BACKGROUND: Guidelines for optimized use of digital follow-up of melanocytic lesions are not yet available, and little is known about inclusion criteria adopted in clinical practice. OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to describe the frequency of digital follow-up adoption in melanoma screening, the characteristics of patients and lesions selected, and the predictors of duration of the intervals of digital follow-up. METHODS: Baseline characteristics of patients and lesions selected for digital follow-up in 12 Italian pigmented lesion clinics were examined. Predictors of a short follow-up interval (4.75) was associated only with a marginal effect on the scheduled duration of follow-up interval (OR 1.34, 95% CI 0.97-1.86). These findings were confirmed by a multivariate analysis. LIMITATIONS: The adoption of different digital dermoscopy systems in the participating centers may have limited the reliability of the TDS assigned by a central group to dermoscopy images. CONCLUSIONS: Practicing dermatologists who use digital epiluminescence microscopy in screening for melanoma decided to submit at least one melanocytic lesion to digital follow-up for approximately 1 patient for every 5 examined. This implies costs and time spent that need to be evaluated together with the benefits of this procedure from a large-scale perspective. The lack of well-defined guidelines for inclusion and exclusion criteria may hamper optimized use of digital follow-up in daily practice.