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Shame has been registered as a part of psychosocial distress in patients with psoriasis. This study investigated 44 patients with psoriasis and 88 age- and sex-matched individuals without skin disease. Skin shame, multifarious expressions of shame, psychological symptoms, overall health, dermatological quality of life, disease burden and disease severity were measured. Higher levels of skin shame correlated with a greater disease burden (r=0.63; p < 0.01), higher Dermatology Life Quality Index (r=0.33; p < 0.05), and lower mental quality of life (r=-0.30; p < 0.05). Patients had a higher level of skin shame (F=74.03; eta²= 0.36; p < 0.01) and less physical quality of life on the SF-36 (F=5.14; eta²= 0.04; p < 0.05) than non-dermatological controls. General shame was not related to disease burden or quality of life. While self-rated skin shame appears to be related to quality of life in patients with psoriasis, no association was registered between expert-rated Psoriasis Area and Severity Index and quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This retrospective multicentre analysis from the Psoriasis Registry Austria (PsoRA) was conducted to determine drug effectiveness and survival of anti-tumour necrosis factor alpha (anti-TNF-α) agents in patients with moderate-to-severe chronic plaque psoriasis over a 9-year period. Data on 1,019 treatment cycles with adalimumab (n = 460), etanercept (n = 501), and/or infliximab (n = 58) administered to 827 patients (272 women, 555 men) were available for analysis. Compared with etanercept, adalimumab and infliximab showed superior short-term effectiveness. Intention-to-treat-calculated median drug survivals for adalimumab (1,264 days) and etanercept (1,438 days) were similar to each other (p = 0.74), but significantly superior to that of infliximab (477 days) (p = 7.0e-07 vs. adalimumab and p = 2.2e-07 vs. etanercept, respectively). Their drug survival rates at 36 months were 51.6%, 56.0%, and 22.6%, respectively. Survival rates correlated significantly with effectiveness for adalimumab and etanercept, but not for infliximab. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients with psoriasis who are being treated with biologics require intensive monitoring. However, the monitoring tool teledermatology is not commonly used. We investigated the applicability of a mobile phone based teledermatological system for monitoring psoriasis patients on biologic therapy. Nineteen patients were given mobile phones with built-in cameras, in order to transmit health status data and images (mobile visits) weekly for a 6-month period. Face-to-face visits were carried out at weeks 0, 4, 12 and 24. Image quality, the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI), the handling of adverse events, and patients' feedback questionnaires were evaluated. Ninety-five percent of the images were of sufficient quality to enable accurate assessment of the PASI. The distance between the interpolated face-to-face PASIs and the corresponding mobile visit PASIs was 0.46 ± 2.15 (median ± interquartile range). All 155 adverse events were handled correctly by the system. This teledermatological system represents a reliable tool for management of psoriasis patients who are on systemic treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a case study of a 43 years old man with severe chronic plaque psoriasis who had a Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI). The patient was approached for participation in phase 3, multicentre, randomized, double blinded study. The patient was treated with subcutaneous adalimumab, a Tumor necrosis Factor (TNF)-α antagonist, at a dose of 80 mg and showed marked improvement with complete remission after 12 weeks of treatment.