Real-life effectiveness and safety of dupilumab in adult patients with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common, chronic inflammatory condition with a substantial negative impact on the quality of life. Dupilumab, the first biologic approved for the treatment of moderate-to-severe AD, binds IL-4Rα and inhibits signaling of both IL-4 and IL-13. This study aimed to determine the real-life effectiveness and safety of dupilumab treatment in patients with moderate-to-severe AD. The results of the study indicates high effectiveness and safety of dupilumab in real-life conditions. The treatment was continued during the COVID-19 pandemic in most of the patients without any adverse outcome. The rate of conjunctivitis was higher compared to clinical trials, nevertheless treatment was not discontinued in any patients due to adverse effects.

Psychiatric comorbidities and alexithymia in patients with seborrheic dermatitis: a questionnaire study in Turkey.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to determine the levels of anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms in patients with seborrheic dermatitis (SD) compared with healthy subjects. Additionally, we aimed to investigate the presence of alexithymia among patients and its association with these psychiatric comorbidities. METHODS: A total of 117 consecutive adult patients (66 male, 51 female) with SD and 95 age- and gender-matched healthy controls selected from the community (46 male, 49 female) were enrolled in the study. The demographic characteristics of the patients were recorded. The clinical severity of the disease was assessed according to the Seborrheic Dermatitis Area and Severity Index (SDASI) scoring system. Both patients and controls were evaluated by the validated Turkish versions of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Maudsley Obsessive Compulsive Inventory (MOCI), and Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-26). RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences between the patient and control groups regarding the mean scores of depressive or obsessive-compulsive symptoms or alexithymia (all p > 0.05). However, anxiety scores in patients with SD were higher than in controls (p = 0.001). No significant relationship was present between anxiety and disease severity nor disease duration (p > 0.05). Thirty-eight patients with high anxiety scores were found to be more alexithymic (p = 0.000). CONCLUSION: SD is one of the inflammatory skin disorders that is known to be triggered or aggravated by stress. However, little scientific evidence exists to confirm this view. In addition, very limited data are available about the presence of the personality profiles leading to emotional dysregulation such as alexithymia and concurrent psychiatric disorders in patients with SD. Our study showed that anxiety levels were significantly higher in patients with SD compared with healthy controls but there was no significant association with alexithymia, depression, or obsessive-compulsive symptom levels. Dermatologists should be particularly vigilant to the possibility of concurrent psychiatric morbidity in patients with SD in order to improve patients' well-being.

Angiolymphoid hyperplasia with eosinophilia: atypical appearance in an older patient.

We describe a 76-year-old man presenting with a chronic, non-healing ulcer of six-year duration on his left zygomatic area. The skin biopsy specimen taken from the lesion, showed increased vascular proliferation, edematous endothelial cells in the dermal blood vessels and perivascular eosinophilic/lymphocytic infiltration. The routine and specific blood tests were unremarkable. On the basis of these features, the patient was diagnosed as having angiolymphoid hyperplasia with eosinophilia (ALHE). We present the case because of its rarity in older people, atypical clinical appearance; and stress the consideration of ALHE in the differential diagnosis of chronic non-healing superficial ulcers confined to face and neck.

Atopy patch test reactions to house dust mites in patients with scabies.

It is well known that the house dust and the scabies mites are related phylogenetically. We therefore performed atopy patch tests with house dust mite antigens (Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (Dp) and/or Dermatophagoides farinae (Df)) in scabies patients without atopy and healthy controls. We studied 25 men with active scabies and 25 healthy controls. Skin prick tests with standardized house dust mite extract were performed for all patients and controls. An intradermal test procedure was carried out in skin prick test-negative patients, and for controls showing positive atopy patch test to Dp and/or Df. While atopy patch tests were performed directly in all healthy controls, patients with scabies were first treated and on the next day, atopy patch tests were performed. Twenty-two of 25 patients with scabies (88%) had skin prick test and/or intradermal test positivity against house dust mites, whereas 17/25 patients (68%) had atopy patch test positivity against house dust mites (Dp and/or Df). There was no statistically significant difference between skin prick test and/or intradermal test positivity and atopy patch test positivity in a regression analysis (p=0.222). The only statistically significant correlation was between atopy patch test positivity and the extent of scabies involvement (p<0.05). Only few of the healthy controls had positive tests. In this study, we have shown that a positive atopy patch test to house dust mite antigens is not specific for patients with atopic dermatitis, but also occurs in scabies patients without a history of atopic dermatitis.