Daylight photodynamic therapy in 25 patients with actinic keratosis and evaluation of efficacy by confocal microscopy.

BACKGROUND: Daylight photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been reported as having similar efficacy to conventional photodynamic therapy in actinic keratosis treatment. METHODS: 25 patients with actinic keratosis of the scalp and/or face were submitted to a daylight photodynamic therapy session. Adverse reactions were evaluated after one week and efficacy after 3 months. Confocal Microscopy was performed in 6 patients, before and one week after the treatment. Our aim was to compare our results with others studies and analyse the changes occurring in the epidermis and upper dermis with confocal microscopy. RESULTS: 76% of the patients were male. The mean age was 74.2 years. In 51.7% of patients the treatment site was the scalp. Mean cure rate at 3 months was 74%. Aesthetic results were excellent in all patients and only one patient reported mild pain during the 2 h exposure. Confocal Microscopy showed a normalization of the honeycomb pattern in all of the patients. CONCLUSIONS: This therapy has similar results to conventional photodynamic therapy and stands out for less discomfort, fewer adverse effects and better cost-effectiveness. Using confocal microscopy it's possible to in vivo demonstrate the efficacy of this method, with normalization of the honeycomb pattern in the epidermis following succcessful PDT.

Neutrophilic eccrine hidradenitis in a patient with FOLFOX chemotherapy.

This case study describes a 37-year-old Caucasian male with pruritic papules and plaques-some with central erosion-on the arms, neck, and trunk that appeared after chemotherapy with FOLFOX (folinic acid, fluorouacil, and oxiliplatin) for colon cancer. A histological examination showed features of neutrophilic eccrine hidradenitis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of neutrophilic eccrine hidradenitis due to FOLFOX.