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To begin, ask the patient what they expect. How much downtime do they want: one day, two days, three days or none? Next, select the superficial peeling agent based on what the doctor and the patient are comfortable with.

It is a higher-viscosity hyaluronic acid manufactured by Q-Med, the same company that manufacturers Restylane for Medicis. Medicis purchased the marketing rights for Restylane in the United States and invested the time and money to get the filler approved. At some point, Medicis undoubtedly will obtain approval for Perlane and add this to its offerings.

New products in the pipeline will add more versatility to fillers, but until they arrive, Dr. Cohen suggests alternatives such as using a 32-gauge needle to fill in etched-in lines in the nasolabial folds and vertical lip lines.

The emphasis on blood vessel quantity over quality might explain why efforts to grow new vessels in patients with ischemic complications by simply supplying cells with VEGF have fared poorly.

Dermatologists will inevitably increase compliance among ethnic patients when treating scalp conditions such as seborrheic dermatitis or atopic dermatitis if they inquire about the types of hair products the patient normally uses.

Tucson, Ariz. ? Challenging conventional wisdom about treatment modalities might be considered risky business for some dermatologists, but for Norman Levine, M.D., it just comes naturally.

PTC is characterized by intracranial pressure exceeding 250 mmHg without the presence of a lesion or infection.

Las Vegas ? Hormonal therapy with an estrogen-progestin oral contraceptive (OC) can be a useful adjunct for acne treatment in adult women who fail to respond to traditional topical and systemic therapies, according to Julie C. Harper, M.D., at the Fall Clinical Dermatology Conference.

Of all topical therapies used for psoriasis, calcipotriene (Dovonex/Daivonex) ranks as the single most commonly prescribed product worldwide.

As expected, based on experience using alefacept in patients with chronic plaque psoriasis, onset of response was somewhat slow. Over time, however, the treatment was associated with clinical improvement in most patients without any serious safety concerns.

In patients for whom rheumatologists once hoped to achieve 20 percent improvement, Dr. Lisse says that with TNF inhibitors, "We're now looking for 50 or 70 percent, or even remission."

The concept looks good from the outside: Offset the financial challenges of running a traditional dermatology practice by adding fee-for-service aesthetic procedures. However, dermatologists who have done it say that successfully launching or expanding a cosmetic practice requires more than whim. Dermatologists need to weigh the costs, realize the commitment they need to make to these patients and have the time to devote to an aesthetic practice.

Tucson, Ariz. ? In the months following a French surgical team'sgroundbreaking partial face transplant, details have emerged notonly about the recipient's identity and appearance, but also aboutthe precarious progress of the surgical outcome.

Barrington, Ill. -- The National Rosacea Society (NRS) announced last month that it has awarded research grants to five new studies aimed at advancing scientific knowledge of rosacea and finding new treatments to combat it.

Macon, Ga. -- Results of a study conducted by a group of dermatologists here show that sufferers of severe persistent dermatitis may find Xolair (omalizumab) to be more effective than standard treatments.

Winnipeg, Manitoba -- Results of a new study show that patient-initiated, single-day treatment with the antiviral drug famciclovir is effective for the treatment of recurrent genital herpes.

Washington -- Amid a number of high-profile state and federal pharmaceutical liability cases, federal regulators are proposing to insert language in a prescription-drug rule that some state officials say would help drug companies defend themselves against lawsuits.

Scottsdale, Ariz.--With the marketing rights to cosmetic drug Reloxin in a state of flux, Medicis Pharmaceutical is seeking a commercial partnership to market the potential Botox competitor.

San Francisco — With the growing patient interest in cosmetic procedures and the ever-decreasing insurance reimbursements, there are always dermatologists considering expansion of their practices into the cosmetic field. Barry A.S. Lycka, M.D., of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, has helped hundreds of doctors transition from clinically based practices to ones inclusive of cosmetic work. He plans to offer some basic tips on how to approach the change during the 64th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology, taking place here March 3-7.

San Francisco — With the growing patient interest in cosmetic procedures and the ever-decreasing insurance reimbursements, there are always dermatologists considering expansion of their practices into the cosmetic field. Barry A.S. Lycka, M.D., of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, has helped hundreds of doctors transition from clinically based practices to ones inclusive of cosmetic work. He plans to offer some basic tips on how to approach the change during the 64th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology, taking place here March 3-7.

The airport is located 14 miles south of downtown San Francisco, in San Mateo County. For public transit information to the airport, contact BART, SamTrans or Caltrain. Muni does not serve the San Francisco International Airport (SFO).

If you're a first-time visitor, hop the Powell-Hyde cable car downtown. It will carry you to Victorian Park, and downhill to the north is Hyde Street Pier with many early California coastal vessels. All four museum ships are open to the public. From the Pier, turn right (west) along the Aquatic Park shoreline. A cement path leads past a patch of Italy (the bocce ball courts) onto the crescent-shaped Municipal Pier. Returning via Beach Street, stop in at the ship-shaped National Maritime Museum at the foot of Polk Street. Across the street is Ghirardelli Square, which was once a woolen mill, later a chocolate factory and now a popular retail/dining complex.

San Francisco's souvenir superstore, located at Pier 39, is one of the largest retailers of San Francisco gifts, souvenirs and apparel. Open daily, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Pier 39 (415) 397-0143 www.onlyinsanfrancisco.net

For lunch close to the Moscone Center, try some of these favorites.

From amazing seafood spots to its famous Chinatown, San Francisco is a city known for its culinary creations. Every visitor can find something for his or her taste buds among these top picks.

Asian influence is hard to miss in the diverse city of San Francisco, where about a third of the estimated 744,000 residents have Asian roots (2004 estimate, U.S. Census Bureau). It seems fitting that San Francisco's City Hall faces the newly redesigned Asian Art Museum, the work of highly respected Italian architect Gae Aulenti. This museum houses an impressive collection of 15,000 art objects — including statues made of jade, stone and bronze, and paintings, scrolls and furniture representative of many Eastern cultures.

San Francisco is well known for a multitude of cultural and historic reasons, some notorious — for instance, Alcatraz and earthquakes — but most more welcoming. Dermatology Times decided to take a closer look at three famous San Francisco attractions.

San Francisco has a history rich with Indian lore, disasters, inventions, breathtaking scenery, the Gold Rush and diverse cultures (it even had an emperor!) — and it is now one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world.

If you've already received your program for the 2006 American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) Annual Meeting in San Francisco, you know that it's a very detailed, very descriptive, very big book. It's chock-full of valuable information on the sessions, schedules and presenters. That level of detail may make it a little difficult to locate some basic details, though. So we have extrapolated some of the general meeting information and presented it here for you in a concise, simple format.

One of the nice things about the annual American Academy of Dermatology meeting, aside from the fact that you get to see a fantastic city, pow-wow with your peers and immerse yourself in all aspects of dermatology, is that you can get all this and can meet continuing medical education (CME) requirements, too. This is a great opportunity for physicians, medical students, nurses, office personnel and researchers to expand educational horizons.