Aesthetics

San Diego - Radiosurgery is an effective option for patients undergoing various aesthetic procedures, posing a decreased risk of complications, according to retrospective research.

New Orleans - As surgeons are inundated with information about new laser devices - some promising to reduce wrinkles, others touting the ability to restore a youthful appearance to the skin - choosing the best laser for an individual practice can be tricky. To offer busy physicians some easy guidelines to help them make prudent laser purchasing decisions, Jason Pozner, M.D. and Larry Bass, M.D., will offer a course on Lasers for Photorejuvenation at the American Society of Plastic Surgeons Meeting.

New Orleans - With a growing demand from aging baby boomers to shave off years from their appearance, clinicians are searching for nonsurgical alternatives to the traditional facelift to tighten facial skin - and nonablative radiofrequency may just fit the bill.

Toronto - There is a safe, delegable procedure that offers a significant and noticeable, intercurrent, inter-treatment elevation and maintenance of the brow, cheek, and neck contours, which does not require high-energy radiofrequency or lasers, according to R. Stephen Mulholland, M.D.

Dateline - Dermatologists looking for a collagen alternative for facial soft tissue augmentation might want to look to Radiance or Radiance FN (fine needle) - products that already have good track records with cosmetic surgeons.

New Orleans - Radiofrequency treatment with the Thermacool TC? system can give moderate improvements in facial features, according to Walter Nahm, M.D., Ph.D. Based on a study he recently completed, Dr. Nahm said, "There's been a lot of back-and-forth discussion. Many physicians didn't believe radiofrequency worked because the changes were hard to quantify, but now we know there are eyebrow angle changes, brow elevation, and the jowl surface area decreases. We've proven there is a statistical difference before and after radiofrequency."

New Orleans - Radiofrequency energy is a viable option for tightening facial and neck skin, but it is not a replacement for severe laxity and surgical alternatives.

New Orleans - Dermatologists who prescribe acitretin to patients who have had organ transplants can rest easy that the drug will not adversely affect wound healing, according to a new study.

Paris - Many new fillers have been introduced in Europe, and dermatologists there have observed both immediate and delayed severe reactions after their use. These reactions have occurred months or years after injection, and they have been observed with both biodegradable and permanent fillers, according to Pierre Andre, M.D., a dermatologist in practice in Paris.

New York - While surgeons may refuse to make incisions through active psoriatic skin because of safety concerns, a recent survey suggests most skin experts do not believe such procedures increase risk of infection or impairment of wound healing.

Chicago - Although some drugs used to treat psoriasis are known teratogens, dermatologists still have a range of options they might choose from for managing psoriasis across its spectrum of severity in women who are or wish to become pregnant, Mark Lebwohl, M.D., said at Academy '03.

Chicago - Results of two clinical trials involving bexarotene (Targretin) and presented at recent meetings of the American Academy of Dermatology offer hope for patients with severe forms of psoriasis refractory to systemic therapies, according to researchers.

Las Vegas - Long gone are the days when only bodybuilders would take anabolic-androgenic steroids to gain so great a muscle mass that they would get stretch marks on their arms. The use of high doses of anabolic steroids by all types athletes, bodybuilders, and people just trying to look good is widespread in the United States. It's rapidly increasing among both sexes and people of many ages.

Should physicians withhold information from patients about specific treatment options for their conditions when their insurance carriers do not cover them?

Chicago - The American Academy of Dermatology Assn. wasted no time in responding to a study in Archives of Surgery that questioned the safety of procedures performed outside of ambulatory care centers.

Professor Gottfried Lemperle is the inventor of Artes Medical's proprietary microsphere technology and an internationally recognized expert in plastic surgery. He is the former of head of the Division of Plastic Surgery at the University of Frankfurt/Main. In Germany he was voted one of the country's top plastic surgery specialists and is the author of several books and scientific journal articles on plastic surgery. He is now a clinical professor in the Division of Plastic Surgery at the University of California in San Diego and oversees scientific and medical development at Artes Medical, the U.S. patent holder of the Artefill microsphere technology. Recently, Dermatology Times caught up with Dr. Lemperle and asked him to respond to several questions regarding the safety and efficacy of the new product.

New Orleans - Laser resurfacing in combination with fat autograph muscle injection (FAMI) is a novel, holistic approach to the aging skin, according to Yardy Tse, M.D.

San Francisco - The cannula used for tumescent anesthesia infiltration can double as the liposuction surgeon's best suction cannula, Paul Salmon, M.D., said.

San Francisco - When reconstruction of a surgical defect requires a split-thickness skin graft, some dermatologists will refer the patient to a plastic surgeon. However, that procedure is quite simple and is something that can be completed very quickly with a minimum of equipment, Paul J.M. Salmon, M.D., said.

New Orleans - Power liposuction not only has the edge on traditional tumescent liposuction in terms of aspirating higher volumes of fat and reducing both procedure and recovery time. New research led by Bruce E. Katz, M.D., concludes that the complication rate is comparable to that of traditional liposuction performed with tumescent anesthesia.

National Report - In the past 25 years, numerous clinical studies have been conducted on acne. Many topical and systemic drugs have been developed as a result of that research. Although dermatologists haven't been short of treatment options, they have been lacking updated guidelines about recent advances in therapy. In fact, the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) issued the last guidelines on acne treatment in 1990.

Chicago - Psoriasis in the HIV-infected patient can present a treatment challenge, but there are a number of safe and effective options to consider, Mark Lebwohl, M.D., said at Academy '03.

New Orleans - Injecting a higher volume of solution containing equivalent units of botulinum toxin A results in greater diffusion and a larger affected area, Te-Shao Hsu, M.D., said.

The FDA will review both Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp.'s Restylane and Inamed Corp's Hylaform on November 21.

Astralis has begun Phase I clinical trial for Psoraxine for the treatment of moderate plaque psoriasis.

A new drug, Onercept or r-hTBP-1, seems promising in the treatment of psoriasis.

Studies show that people treated with Botox (botulinum toxin, type A) for chronic migraine report less frequent, less intense headaches, and new data show that the use of Botox for headache prevention can reduce the number of emergency room visits by as much as 50 percent, according to Andrew Blumenfeld, M.D., chief of neurology at Kaiser Permanente in San Diego.

A preliminary study shows that a peptide developed by Helix BioMedix Inc. can help reduce the severity of mild to moderate acne.

According to a report by Reuters Health, owners of tropical fish need to take special precautions when cleaning the tank.

The FDA has approved a supplemental new drug application for Valtrex (valacyclovir HCI) manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline.