Waikoloa, Hawaii - A combination topical treatment regimen consisting of the calcineurin inhibitor tacrolimus 0.1 percent ointment (Protopic, Fujisawa) plus the moderate potency corticosteroid clocortolone pivalate 0.1 percent cream (Cloderm, Healthpoint) is more effective in the treatment of atopic dermatitis and associated with fewer side effects than monotherapy with either agent alone, said Alan B. Fleischer, Jr., M.D., at the annual Hawaii Dermatology Seminar in January.
Washington - As the number of new cases of human immunodeficiency virus continues to grow, a topical microbicide might offer hope. Applied intravaginally, the agent has completely blocked intravaginal transmission of Simian Immunodeficiency Virus to female monkeys, according to Andrew Blauvelt, M.D.
Cincinnati - With wrestling season well under way, late fall and winter becomes a busy time for a sports dermatology clinic, said Brian B. Adams, M.D.
Waikoloa, HI - Dermatologists must keep informed about alternative medicine, said Wilma Bergfeld, M.D. "We need to build a knowledge base from the scientific literature and apply it to what patients are already doing."
Waikoloa, Hawaii - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's recent approval of the cosmetic dermal filler Restylane (Medicis) indicates the beginning of a new phase for dermatologists due to the enhanced benefits it offers patients, according to Mark G. Rubin, M.D.
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The views and opinions expressed in this supplement are those of the faculty and do not necessarily reflect the views of Dermatology Times, Cosmetic Surgery Times, Advanstar Communications, Inc, or Allergan, Inc.Sponsored by an unrestricted education grant from Allergan
Washington - Medium and deep peels are the only peels to give appreciable results with skin tightening. And properly performed phenol peels can eliminate wrinkles "extraordinarily better than any TCA peel," said Harold J. Brody, M.D., clinical professor of dermatology, Emory University, Atlanta, Ga.
Personal digital assistants (PDAs), have now reached critical mass, and nearly 25 percent of physicians use them on a daily basis. If you haven't implemented this technology into your daily professional life, you might want to consider what these incredible electronic boxes can do for you and your practice. Now it is possible to have all of these functions included in a 3-inch by 5-inch PDA that fits into your pocket. There are software companies that offer more clinical and management PDA applications than most of us realize are available.
Dial-up modems, which opened the Internet to a vast audience and are still commonly found in medical offices, nominally create a 56k connection, although it is often closer to 44k and, depending on your line quality, 28k. With the prodigious amount of spam and viruses being circulated these days, it can often take 30 minutes or more just to download an e-mail, and if my colleagues have sent large picture files, it could take 45 minutes or more.
San Diego - Physicians enter medicine to take care of people, but to continue doing so, they need to master business principles as well, according to Walter Erhardt, M.D.
Tax planning long has been an extremely effective tool used by many dermatologists to keep their tax bills to a minimum. Often overlooked in this ongoing battle for legitimately lower tax bills, however, is the biggest tax bill faced by many dermatologists and their practices: property taxes. Even those who rent property for their practices are impacted by property taxes.
Q How much life insurance coverage is recommended for a physician who has a family?
Hong Kong - Cryogen spray cooling of the epidermis is a valuable adjunct to pulsed dye laser treatment of port wine stains in Asian patients because it allows the procedure to be performed more safely and effectively compared to use of the pulsed dye laser alone, according to the results of a recently reported prospective study undertaken by researchers at the University of Hong Kong.
Chicago - Cosmetic surgeons need to freshen up their understanding of sedation and analgesia in order to competently supervise staff, according to P. Allan Klock, M.D., associate professor of anesthesia and critical care at the University of Chicago.
Tucker, Ga. - Three mechanisms are purported to induce cutaneous malignancies: initiating events, promotional effects, and effects on the immune system, according to Kathleen J. Smith, M.D., from Quest Diagnostics.
Washington, D.C. -- Tattooing, body piercing, and other skin adornments are nothing new. When the body of the Ice Man was discovered frozen in the mountains of Northern Italy, the well-preserved, 5,300-year-old corpse had tattoos on its knees. One belief is that the tattooing might have been for medicinal reasons - to remedy his arthritic knees.
Washington, D.C. - With a handful of new options expected to receive FDA approval within a year, the field of tissue augmentation stands poised to undergo a seismic shift. "The bottom line is, tissue augmentation is about to change dramatically," said Mariano E. Busso, M.D. He is clinical professor in the University of Miami's department of dermatology, chief of dermatology at Mercy Hospital, also in Miami, Fla., and a private practitioner who is board-certified in dermatology.
Q. Why do so many topical moisturizing products claim to have effects similar to botulinum toxin A injections?
New Orleans - For Michael J. Fazio M.D., avoiding complications can be a difficult task in vermilion and perioral reconstruction, but as with any reconstructive surgery, a cautious prevention is simpler than the cure.
Houston - Dermatologists should treat actinic keratoses (AKs) more aggressively because AKs are part of a tremendous epidemic of skin cancer - melanoma and nonmelanoma, according to Leonard H. Goldberg, M.D.
New York - Results from the largest-ever phase III trial in advanced metastatic melanoma, while preliminary, suggest dacarbazine (DTIC) plus an investigational antisense compound (oblimersen sodium, or Genasense) may significantly improve overall survival versus DTIC alone, according to Anna C. Pavlick, D.O.
Montreal - Physicians must use information obtained about Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpes virus learned through basic research to help prevent and treat KS in the clinical setting, a virology expert said.
Tucker, Ga. - Three mechanisms are purported to induce cutaneous malignancies: initiating events, promotional effects, and effects on the immune system, according to Kathleen J. Smith, M.D., from Quest Diagnostics.
Barcelona, Spain - Identifying the cause of itch is the key to treating it. New research is helping better characterize pruritus, leading to more effective therapies for this frustrating condition, according to physicians reporting at the 2003 meeting of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV).
Barcelona, Spain - New research demonstrates the pathophysiology of itch may be more complex than once believed. Recently discovered pruritic pathways, such as those involving proteases or neuropeptides, are opening doors to new therapeutic targets for this uncomfortable, hard-to-control phenomenon.
New York - Lesion-directed, narrowband UVB phototherapy with the 308-nm excimer laser offers a safe and useful modality for treatment of localized psoriasis and vitiligo in properly selected patients, said Suhail M. Hadi, M.D., assistant professor of dermatology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
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.
Washington, D.C. - Tacrolimus and pimecrolimus may spring to mind first when atopic dermatitis is diagnosed, but it turns out that these topical immunomodulators are also effective for a host of previously difficult-to-treat diseases. Granuloma faciale, Hailey Hailey disease, hand and foot eczema and chromic actinic dermatitis are among the lengthy list of conditions these work well for, according to Mark Lebwohl, M.D., Professor and Chairman, Department of Dermatology, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine.
Detroit - Topical treatment allows medication delivery directly to the skin with reduced systemic exposure compared to orally administered agents, but local drug application is not without risk to internal organ systems, according to Peter J. Aronson, M.D.
