The British journal of dermatology
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Skin disease can have a huge impact on quality of life for patients and their families. Nurses have an important role in the delivery of specialist dermatology services, and prescribing enhances the care they provide. The views of dermatology patients about nurse prescribing are unknown. ⋯ Nurse prescribing can increase the efficiency of dermatology services. Patients experienced active involvement in decisions about their treatment which in turn contributed to concordance and adherence to treatment regimens. This study has important implications for maximizing resource use and improving access to and quality of care in dermatology specialist services.
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Anti-p200 pemphigoid is a subepidermal blistering skin disease characterized by autoantibodies against a 200-kDa protein (p200) of the dermal-epidermal junction. The laminin γ1 chain has recently been identified as target antigen in this disease and the C-terminus was described as an immunodominant region of laminin γ1. Diagnosis of anti-p200 pemphigoid requires detection of serum IgG at the dermal side of 1 mol L(-1) salt-split skin by indirect immunofluorescence microscopy and labelling of a 200-kDa protein by Western blotting of dermal extract. However, preparation of dermal extract is not widely available, limiting the possibility of diagnosing this disease to a few laboratories. ⋯ This novel ELISA will facilitate the diagnosis of anti-p200 pemphigoid.
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Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a distressing chronic inflammatory skin disorder which affects predominantly the groins and axillae. In analogy to acne, oral isotretinoin has been considered in the treatment of HS, although there are strong indications that this drug has only a very limited therapeutic effect. During the past 25 years scattered case reports have described promising results of treatment with acitretin. ⋯ Acitretin appears to be an effective treatment for refractory HS, leading to reduction of pain from painful nodules and reducing the extent of the disease for a prolonged period.