Sarcoidosis: Evaluation and Treatment.

Sarcoidosis is a multisystem granulomatous inflammatory disease of unknown etiology that can involve any organ. Ongoing dyspnea and dry cough in a young to middle-aged adult should increase the suspicion for sarcoidosis. Symptoms can present at any age and affect any organ system; however, pulmonary sarcoidosis is the most common. Extrapulmonary manifestations often involve cardiac, neurologic, ocular, and cutaneous systems. Patients with sarcoidosis can exhibit constitutional symptoms such as fever, unintentional weight loss, and fatigue. The early recognition and diagnosis of sarcoidosis are challenging because there is no diagnostic standard for testing, initial symptoms vary, and patients may be asymptomatic. Consensus guidelines recommend a holistic approach when diagnosing sarcoidosis that focuses on clinical presentation and radiographic findings, biopsy with evidence of noncaseating granulomas, involvement of more than one organ system, and elimination of other etiologies of granulomatous disease. Corticosteroids are the initial treatment for active disease, with refractory cases often requiring immunosuppressive or biologic therapies. Transplantation can be considered for advanced and end-stage disease depending on organ involvement.

Patients Assess an eConsult Model's Acceptability at 5 US Academic Medical Centers.

PURPOSE: Electronic consultation (eConsult), involving asynchronous primary care clinician-to-specialist consultation, is being adopted at a growing number of health systems. Most evaluations of eConsult programs have assessed clinical and financial impacts and clinician acceptability. Less attention has been focused on patients' opinions. We set out to understand patient perspectives and preferences for hypothetical eConsult use at 5 US academic medical centers in the process of adopting an eConsult model. METHODS: We invited adult primary care patients to participate in focus groups. Participants were introduced to the eConsult model, considered its potential benefits and drawbacks, judged the acceptability of a hypothetical copay, and expressed their preferences for future involvement in eConsult decision making and communication. Thematic analysis was used for data interpretation. RESULTS: One focus group was conducted at each of the 5 sites with a total of 52 participants. Focus groups responded positively to the idea of eConsult, with quicker access to specialty care and convenience identified as key benefits. Approval was particularly high among those with a trusted primary care clinician. Preference for involvement in eConsult decision making and communication varied and enthusiasm about eConsult waned when a hypothetical copay was introduced. Concerns included potential misuse of eConsult and exclusion of the patient's illness narrative in the eConsult exchange. CONCLUSIONS: Primary care patients expressed strong support for eConsult, particularly when used by a trusted primary care clinician, in addition to voicing several concerns. Patient involvement in eConsult outreach and education efforts could help to enhance the model's effectiveness and acceptability.

Cutaneous Cryosurgery for Common Skin Conditions.

Cryosurgery is the application of freezing temperatures to achieve the destruction of tissue. Cutaneous cryosurgery has become a commonly performed outpatient procedure because of the combination of its safety, effectiveness, low cost, ease of use, lack of need for injectable anesthetic, and good cosmetic results. Cryosurgery may be performed in the outpatient setting using dipstick, spray, or cryoprobe techniques to treat a variety of benign, premalignant, and malignant skin lesions with high cure rates. Benign lesions such as common and plantar warts, anogenital condylomas, molluscum contagiosum, and seborrheic keratoses can be treated with cryotherapy. Basal and squamous cell carcinomas with low-risk features may be treated with cryosurgery. Contraindications to cryosurgery include neoplasms with indefinite margins or when pathology is desired, basal cell or squamous cell carcinomas with high-risk features, and prior adverse local reaction or hypersensitivity to cryosurgery. Potential adverse effects include bleeding, blistering, edema, paresthesia, and pain and less commonly include tendon rupture, scarring, alopecia, atrophy, and hypopigmentation.

Gout: Rapid Evidence Review.

Gout is caused by monosodium urate crystal deposition in joints and tissues. Risk factors include male sex; obesity; hypertension; alcohol intake; diuretic use; a diet rich in meat and seafood; chronic kidney disease; a diet heavy in fructose-rich food and beverages; being a member of certain ethnic groups, including Taiwanese, Pacific Islander, and New Zealand Maori; and living in high-income countries. Gout is characterized by swelling, pain, or tenderness in a peripheral joint or bursa, including the development of a tophus. Diagnosis of gout can be made using several validated clinical prediction rules. Arthrocentesis should be performed when suspicion for an underlying septic joint is present; synovial fluid or tophus analysis should be performed if the diagnosis is uncertain. Colchicine, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and corticosteroids relieve pain in adults with acute gout episodes. Indications for long-term urate-lowering therapy include chronic kidney disease, two or more flare-ups per year, urolithiasis, the presence of tophus, chronic gouty arthritis, and joint damage. Allopurinol and febuxostat are used to prevent flare-ups, although febuxostat is associated with an increase in all-cause and cardiovascular mortality and is therefore not routinely recommended.

Atopic Dermatitis.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common, chronic relapsing, and remitting inflammatory skin disease that is characterized by erythematous, scaly, and pruritic lesions often located over the flexural surfaces. Treatment goals of AD include the reduction of itching and burning, as well as the reduction of skin changes. Treatment of AD includes emollients and skin care, topical therapies including topical corticosteroids and steroid-sparing therapies, systemic therapies, and phototherapy.

Autoimmune Skin Conditions: Psoriasis.

Psoriasis is a chronic, inflammatory skin condition with significant effect on quality of life. It affects 3.2% of the United States population. Psoriasis is caused by an interaction between genetic and environmental triggers. Associated conditions include depression, increased cardiovascular risk, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, Crohn disease, ulcerative colitis, celiac disease, nonmelanoma skin cancers, and lymphoma. Several clinical variants exist, including chronic plaque, guttate, pustular, inverse, and erythrodermic psoriasis. Lifestyle modification and topical therapies, such as emollients, coal tar, topical corticosteroids, vitamin D analogues, and calcineurin inhibitors, are used for limited disease. More severe psoriasis may require systemic therapy with oral or biologic therapy. Individualized management of psoriasis may involve different combinations of treatments. Counseling patients about associated comorbidities is essential.

Autoimmune Skin Conditions: Autoimmune Blistering Disease.

There are many types of autoimmune blistering skin disease. Two of the most common are bullous pemphigoid and pemphigus vulgaris. Bullous pemphigoid is characterized by tense bullae created by a subepidermal split resulting from autoantibodies targeted at the hemidesmosomes at the dermal-epidermal junction. Bullous pemphigoid typically occurs in elderly people and often can be drug-induced. Pemphigus vulgaris is characterized by flaccid bullae because of an intraepithelial split triggered by autoantibodies targeting desmosomes. Diagnosis can be made for both conditions by physical examination, biopsy for routine histology, biopsy for direct immunofluorescence, and serologic studies. Both bullous pemphigoid and pemphigus vulgaris are associated with significant morbidity and mortality and diminished quality of life, making early recognition and diagnosis paramount. Management proceeds in a stepwise approach using potent topical corticosteroids along with immunosuppressant drugs. Rituximab recently has been shown to be the drug of choice for most people with pemphigus vulgaris.