The British journal of dermatology
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Review Meta Analysis
The surface area of the hand and the palm for estimating percentage of total body surface area: results of a meta-analysis.
The estimation of body surface area involvement is an important tool. Hand surface area (HSA) or palm surface area (PSA) is commonly used for the estimate, with an assumption that HSA represents 1% of the total body surface area (TBSA). ⋯ The use of HSA equating to 1% TBSA results in an overestimate for adults (particularly women) and an underestimate for children. PSA equating to 0.5% TBSA appears to be suitable for adults. Patient variables including sex and BMI result in variation of HSA as a percentage of TBSA. The heterogeneity of the included studies and the lack of data for children are the major limitations of this study.
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Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common cancer in the U. K. and its incidence is increasing. Vismodegib, a hedgehog pathway inhibitor, has recently been licensed by the U. ⋯ Further research is needed to investigate means of circumventing these side-effects, and longitudinal data are required to assess the long-term benefits of, and the nature of resistance to, this novel class of agents. Alternative hedgehog inhibitors are currently in clinical development. We review the current data pertaining to this novel treatment modality and discuss its likely future role in the management of BCC.
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Review
Assessing the influence of actinic keratosis on patients' quality of life: the AKQoL questionnaire.
Limited knowledge is available regarding quality of life in patients with actinic keratosis (AK). ⋯ A nine-item questionnaire for patients with AK was developed. The AKQoL has three domains covering emotions, function and control and one single global item. The questionnaire's scale structure, the content and face validity, and the reliability have been established.
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Port-wine stain (PWS) birthmarks are one class of benign congenital vascular malformation. Laser therapy is the most successful treatment modality of PWS. ⋯ To address this problem, several research groups have developed technologies and methods designed to study treatment outcome and improve treatment efficacy. This article reviews seven optical imaging techniques currently in use or under development to assess treatment efficacy, focusing on: reflectance spectrophotometers/tristimulus colorimeters; laser Doppler flowmetry and laser Doppler imaging; cross-polarized diffuse reflectance colour imaging system; reflectance confocal microscopy; optical coherence tomography; spatial frequency domain imaging; and laser speckle imaging.
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Review Meta Analysis
Overall treatment success after treatment of primary superficial basal cell carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized and nonrandomized trials.
Several noninvasive treatment modalities are available for superficial basal cell carcinoma (sBCC). ⋯ Pooled estimates from randomized and nonrandomized studies showed similar tumour-free survival at 1 year for imiquimod and PDT. The PDT tumour-free survival was higher in studies with repeated treatments. However, these results were largely derived from nonrandomized studies, and randomized studies with head-to-head comparison of imiquimod and PDT are lacking. There is a need for head-to-head comparison studies between PDT, imiquimod and other treatments with long-term follow-up to enable better recommendations for optimal sBCC treatment.