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Background Nail psoriasis is often refractory to traditional treatments, and patients with nail psoriasis usually demand a therapeutic option. Both photodynamic therapy (PDT) and pulse dye laser (PDL) have proved effective for plaque-type psoriasis, but they have not been evaluated in nail psoriasis. On the other hand, delta-aminolaevulinic acic has been shown to penetrate into the nail matrix and nail bed occluded with bioadhesive patches. Objectives To compare the efficacy of PDT and PDL in the treatment of nail psoriasis Methods We studied 61 nails treated with PDT and 60 nails treated with PDL in a group of 14 patients. The PDT used PDL as the light source. Sessions were applied monthly treating one hand with PDT and the other with PDL. The hand treated with PDT was occluded with methyl-aminolaevulinic acic (MAL, Metvix®) for 3 h using a bioadhesive patch. The nails treated were evaluated at baseline, and after 3 and 6 months according to the Nail Psoriasis Severity Index (NAPSI) score. Results A decrease in NAPSI score was observed with both treatments and in both nail matrix and nail bed involvement. No statistical differences were found between PDT and PDL ( P = 0.632, P = 0.084, P = 0.535, at baseline, and 3 and 6 months, respectively), and between nail matrix and nail bed NAPSI scores ( P = 0.423 and P = 0.853, respectively). The subjective impression of the patients was good, especially regarding the decrease in the pain. Conclusions PDL seems to be effective in the treatment of nail psoriasis and improves nail matrix and nail bed involvement. MAL does not seem to play role in the clinical response. Conflicts of interest None declared. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a compliant motion control method for the robotic assistant ERM (Endoscopic Robotic Manipulator), designed and developed by the authors for handling the camera in laparoscopic surgery. Since the robot has a passive wrist and it is not fixed to the operating table, the relative position between the robot camera holder and the insertion point is unknown. In this way, the proposed approach keeps the camera orientation according to the motion references in spite of this uncertainty and compensates for other unexpected disturbances about the relative robot–patient position. This system has been tested with live animals as well as in clinical trials on humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a robotic assistant for helping surgeons in minimally invasive surgery. The system provides the direct control of the camera positioning inside the abdominal cavity, including teleoperation capabilities. This prototype does not require any modification of a standard operating room for its installation and its application in surgical procedures. The insertion point of the laparoscopic camera constitutes the most important kinematic constraint in laparoscopic techniques. In the proposed design, this has been solved with a passive wrist. A three active degrees of freedom manipulator positions the wrist. In order to demonstrate the robot suitability to develop the tasks it has been designed for, a design validation has been performed. This validation consists of simulations based on the configuration space concept. Finally, trials with alive animals have been carried out in an experimental operating theatre. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We treated six patients with static alopecia areata (AA) with photodynamic therapy (PDT). All patients had received other treatment before starting PDT, but with no benefit. All previous treatments were stopped at least 3 months before beginning PDT, and no other treatment was given during the study period. PDT was used on only one of the affected areas, or if there was only one affected area, to only part of that area; untreated areas served as controls. For all patients methylaminolaevulinic acid was applied under occulsion 3 h after irradiation with red light at 630 nm (37 J/cm2, 7.5 min). One session was carried out each month. Clinical and fluorescence photographs were taken with a digital camera connected to ultraviolet flashes, both before and after each treatment. None of the patients with AA of the scalp achieved complete hair regrowth, either in the treated or the untreated areas. Two of the patients showed growth of some thin hair over < 10 of the treated area. The remaining patients had no change. However, the patient with AA of the beard experienced complete regrowth after four sessions. To our knowledge, this is the first case of AA treated with PDT in this location. It may be that AA of beard hair responds better to PDT, but further studies are necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a letter to the editor reporting a case of zosteriform cutaneous metastases arising from mixed-cellularity Hodgkin's disease in a patient with concomitant scrofuloderma and nodal tuberculosis.

Sir, Acute painful diabetic neuropathy (APDN) is an uncommon syndrome originally recognized by Ellenberg (1974) and termed ‘diabetic neuropathic cachexia’. It has been described in diabetic patients and also in females with diabetes and anorexia nervosa (Steele et al., 1987). Its clinical features consist in an unremitting burning pain in the lower limbs, which is more troublesome at night (Thomas and Griffin, 1995). We present the case of a woman with APDN who improved and became asymptomatic with low doses of gabapentin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]