Pediatric Dermatology

Vancouver, British Columbia - Dermatologists need to consider the range of characteristics to make a diagnosis of a rare or uncommon condition in children.

National report - To itch is human and to successfully treat - divine.

International report - Gene and protein expression profiling is providing new and exciting insights into the mechanisms involved in the acquisition of skin sensitization and the development of allergic contact dermatitis.

National report - Focal hyperhidrosis (or primary or idiopathic hyperhidrosis) is a common problem that affects about 3 percent of the population and has significant psychosocial implications.

Las Vegas - Clinicians need to think of causes of disease that are not obvious and do more investigation when they are faced with challenging cases, says one professor of dermatology.

Cleveland - "At Face Value," written by Dermatology Times Senior Editor Karen Donley-Hayes, appeared in the June 21, 2006, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA, Vol.295, No. 23, 2701-2702). A story spurred by the essay was also published on Heathday.com, and Ms. Donley-Hayes was interviewed for the University of Kentucky's Dr. Greg Davis on Medicine program, which aired on WUKY 91.3 FM UK Public Radio.

Dozens of meeting and learning opportunities are offered to dermatologists every year. The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) has its national meetings, then a variety of regional, state and local societies put on their programs, shared interest groups have meetings and commercial enterprises offer educational experiences. Add to those international gatherings - and doctors could conceivably never go into their offices.

It is valid to ask how serious the issue of frivolous physician malpractice claims is. Unfortunately, there is a dearth of good data on this issue.

Washington - About 24 percent of Americans between the ages of 18 and 50 have tattoos, suggests a study published by the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Philadelphia - Skin tone and luminosity are key indicators of age in the perception of viewers, European researchers say.

London - Smokers' heavily wrinkled faces could be an early warning signal of a serious lung disease, British researchers say.

London - German researchers found that rats exposed to the sunscreen chemical 4MBC had raised levels of thyroid stimulating hormones and heavier thyroid glands.

London - A hospital ethics committee will decide by mid-August whether to grant approval for a full face transplant.

C1-INH treatment shortened the mean duration of abdominal attacksfrom 92 to 40 hours and the mean maximal pain score declined from8.6 to 4.5.

C1-INH treatment shortened the mean duration of abdominal attacksfrom 92 to 40 hours and the mean maximal pain score declined from8.6 to 4.5.

Rancho Mirage, Calif. - The Asian population has a spectrumof skin types, from the porcelain white of the Japanese to thebrowner Pacific Islanders, according to Wendy E. Roberts, M.D. Sheis a dermatologist here, and assistant clinical professor ofmedicine at Loma Linda University Medical School, Loma Linda,Calif.

Seattle - In the United States, there are very fewdermatologists who consider disorders of pigmentation to be a majorfocus of their practices and, as a result, they are more likely toresort to biopsy than they are to clinical criteria for makingthese diagnoses, according to Philip E. LeBoit, M.D., adermatopathologist and professor of clinical pathology anddermatology, University of California, San Francisco.

National report - How can teenagers be convinced that their actions now will place their lives at risk in the future?

In the 1990s, while chairman of dermatology at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation Florida, Fort Lauderdale, Marta Rendon, M.D., saw the most complex cases to come through the clinic.

Hayward, Calif. - Thermage? is introducing a way forphysicians to "drive practice success."

National report - Researchers at Dartmouth Medical Schoolhave for the first time established an association betweeninfection with certain strains of human papillomavirus (HPV) andincreased risk for developing squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).

Complications from the procedure that have sparked some debateinclude the potential for thread failure, migration, exposure,static and dynamic deformities and palpable threads.

At study completion, about two-thirds of patients were rated asachieving "success," defined by a 50 percent or greater reductionin lesion counts.

Bangalore, India - U.S. pharmaceutical company Allergan hasobtained a license from the Drugs Controller General of India tointroduce Botox in India.

San Francisco - The Dermatology Foundation honored severaldermatologists at its recent annual meeting here.