Women's Health

Although most everyone in billing is generally very comfortable with ICD-9-CM diagnosis coding, it's still not uncommon for me to receive faxes that demonstrate that there is still some bad coding going on in dermatology practices.

Stanford, Calif. - Melanoma is the only early-detectable cancer where death rates are rising, but the number of people being screened is staying the same.

Stanford, Calif. - Skin cancer in immunosuppressed solid organ transplant recipients is a significant problem and one of growing importance as patient survival post-transplantation continues to increase, says Daniel Berg, M.D

National report - The benefits of Allergan's proposed oral psoriasis drug, Tazoral, do not outweigh possible risks of birth defects and bone loss, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel has decided.

Cryotherapy is commonly performed in dermatology to treat numerous benign and premalignant skin lesions and some selected superficial skin cancers. The pain associated with this procedure occurs in two phases, immediately at onset and as the treated site thaws. The posttreatment thaw pain is the most intense and may inhibit patients from undergoing retreatment, should it become necessary. Application of a topical anesthetic, such as L.M.X.4?, after a lesion has thawed relieves the pain associated with cryotherapy.

Non-genital warts continue to be almost as common as acne in the dermatology practice, according to Dr. Beutner.

The safety profile of imiquimod cream as a treatment for BCCs was high with the treatment failures in the study being easily visible.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that annual hospitalizations surpass 100,000 and outpatient treatment likely is several-fold higher.

The teratogenicity of isotretinoin has been known since isotretinoin was first introduced for acne treatment. Because of this, Patricia Farris, M.D., a dermatologist based in Metairie, La., not only insists on adequate birth control use but adds that the patient must be open to the possibility that if her birth control fails that she would terminate the pregnancy.

Digital photography provides tool to assess individuals' ability to perform skin exam; could help in early detection of melanoma

Post-menopausal women have healthier skin with increased moisture

Washington D.C. -- Imiquimod 5 percent cream produces histologic response rates in excess of 70 percent in the treatment of multiple superficial basal cell carcinomas, according to study data presented at the 62nd annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Washington - While hair loss may become more acceptable with increasing age, for some older people it is psychologically devastating and adds to the string of losses they may encounter, said Janet L. Roberts, M.D., at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology.

From skin cancer drug studies to foot exams, patient and physician awareness of melanoma is key to quick detection of dreaded disease

Periungual warts require accurate diagnosis; aggressive treatment

National report - Harley A. Haynes, M.D., remembers a lecture he heard while a student at Harvard Medical School in the early 1960s. His professor showed a series of slides of melanoma and the basic message of his talk that day was: Sometimes, people get melanoma and then, they die.

Waikoloa, Hawaii - Intense pulsed light (IPL) and lasers used in combination with 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) on the full face can achieve photorejuvenation as well as treat actinic keratoses (AK), according to Mitchel P. Goldman, M.D.

San Diego - Smallpox vaccine has been given safely and effectively to more than 500,000 military personnel with adverse event rates at or below levels seen in the 1960s, according to John D. Grabenstein, R.Ph., Ph.D.

La Jolla, Calif. - A single treatment with d-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) for one hour followed by intense pulsed light (IPL) exposure achieves photorejuvention and removes superficial actinic keratoses (AKs) without recurrence for at least one year.

Montreal - Mycobacterial infections are on the rise. Physicians should be aware of the key clinical features of these conditions and use microbiology laboratory facilities to confirm diagnoses. While some of these infections respond to antimicrobials, others require more intensive therapy, such as surgery.

Barcelona - Promising advances have been in the development of prophylactic vaccines targeting human papillomavirus (HPV), the major cause of cervical cancer and a possible contributing factor in non-melanoma skin cancers, according to Reinhard Kirnbauer, M.D., Associate Professor of Dermatology at the University of Vienna Medical School in Austria.

Las Vegas -- The landscape of dermatologic diseases manifested by HIV-positive (HIV+) patients has changed in the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), said Clay J. Cockerell, M.D., at the Fall Clinical Dermatology Conference.

Chicago -- Two Singapore studies refuted the long-standing notion that Asian women have lower skin barrier function than other ethnic groups, according to findings presented at this year's L'Oreal Ethnic Skin and Hair Conference here in September.

Chicago - A pioneering researcher in the area of acne keloidalis nuchae recommended the use of Nd:YAG lasers set in non-ablative resurfacing mode and low fluence vascular lasers for treatment of the condition in African-Americans at this year's L'Oreal Ethnic Skin and Hair Conference here, Sept. 19-21. "We have utilized both lasers with success," says Fran E. Cook-Bolden, M.D.

San Francisco - Increased understanding of the routes of drug metabolism has facilitated better potential drug interaction predictions, said Neil H. Shear, M.D.

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.

New York - It seems pregnancy brings more than a "healthy glow." It might also help clear psoriasis for those who have the skin disease. A new study shows that psoriatic women who have high estrogen levels during pregnancy experience significant improvements of their psoriasis.

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.

San Francisco - Results of animal studies and limited clinical research indicate that estrogen can have a positive effect on wound healing, and findings from a case-cohort investigation provide preliminary evidence that oral estrogen in the form of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) might protect against the development of pressure ulcers and venous ulcers in an ambulatory population. However, a role of estrogen for treating those lesions remains to be defined, said David J. Margolis, M.D.

Topical tacrolimus is effective in treating anogenital lichen sclerosus, according to two case reports in the July issue of the Archives of Dermatology.