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The spectrum of pustular skin disorders (PSD) is large and particularly challenging, including inflammatory, infectious and amicrobial diseases. Moreover, although pustules represent the unifying clinical feature, they can be absent or not fully developed in the early stage of the disease. The line-field confocal optical coherence tomography (LC-OCT) is a recently developed imaging technique able to perform a non-invasive, in vivo, examination of the epidermis and upper dermis, reaching very high image resolution and virtual histology.We aimed to investigate the potentialities of LC-OCT in the non-invasive differential diagnosis of a series of 11 PSD with different aetiology, microscopic features, body location and incidence rates.Complete LC-OCT imaging (i.e. 2D/3D frames, videos) was performed on a total of 19 patients (10 females and 9 males) aged between 35 and 79 years. Images were blindly evaluated and compared with corresponding histopathologic findings.The LC-OCT imaging was able to detect with high accuracy the pustule structure including shape, margins, morphology and cellular content, along with peculiar epidermal and adnexal alterations in each condition, including: Acute Generalized Exanthematous Pustulosis, Generalized pustular psoriasis, Generalized pustular figurate erythema, Subcorneal Pustular Dermatosis, Intraepidermal IgA pustulosis, Palmoplantar pustulosis, Palmoplantar pustular psoriasis. Herpetic whitlow, Acrodermatitis continua of Hallopeau, Vesicopustular Sweet syndrome and Vesicopustular Eosinophilic cellulitis, with pustular appearance, were also compared.The new LC-OCT can represent a rapid, non-invasive and painless tool which can help differentiating among PSD of different aetiology and microscopic morphology in clinical mimickers in daily practice.

Basosquamous carcinoma (BSC) is a rare and potentially aggressive cutaneous neoplasm combining histopathological features of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Line-field confocal optical coherence tomography (LC-OCT) is a new, non-invasive imaging technique featuring excellent resolution and penetration. To date, studies about the use of LC-OCT in the BCC and SCC fields are available, but similar investigations are lacking in the BSC field.The goal of the present study was to identify/describe LC-OCT criteria of BSC.Consecutively enrolled BSCs were imaged with dermoscopy and LC-OCT prior to surgical excision. Dermoscopic and LC-OCT images were evaluated, and histopathological slides were reviewed.Six BSCs from six patients [four (66.7%) males and two (33.3%) females; mean age 76.5 (62-96) years] were included. Identified LC-OCT criteria for BSC included BCC-associated (dermal lobules with millefeuille pattern, dilated vessels, bright cells within the epidermis, bright cells within lobules, stromal stretching, stromal brightness) and SCC-associated features (acanthosis, hyperkeratosis, disarranged epidermal architecture, broad strands, elastosis and glomerular vessels). Interruption of the dermal-epidermal junction and ulceration represented overlapping criteria.Line-field confocal-OCT is a new promising technique that may support the non-invasive recognition of BSC through the simultaneous detection of BCC-associated and SCC-associated features. We hypothesize that the use of LC-OCT might be helpful not only in the diagnostic setting but also in the follow-up surveillance for an early identification of recurrences. Further larger studies are needed to prove this hypothesis.

Tattoos are an increasingly common phenomenon, with a prevalence of around 10-30 % of the population in Western countries. The "Tatou" project assessed the risks of tattooing for patients with psoriasis. The first part revealed strong opposition to tattoos in these patients on the part of dermatologists, despite fewer than a quarter of them having any personal experience of complications. The second part showed a very low rate (6.6 %) of local complications on tattoos in these patients as well as absence of severe complications. These observations led us to assess the reasons for reluctance about tattoos in the 468 dermatologists involved in the first part of the "Tatou" project.We conducted a cross-sectional international study in France, Finland and Italy to evaluate the experience and opinions of dermatologists regarding tattoos in psoriasis patients via an anonymous questionnaire. We then examined the stated reasons for opposition to tattoos in order to establish the profiles of "tattoo-sceptical" dermatologists with regard to 4 different situations: active psoriasis, quiescent psoriasis, treatment with topical steroids and biotherapies.The opinion of dermatologists regarding tattoos was generally unfavourable (3.5±2.8/10), in particular, via multivariate analysis, among older dermatologists (P=0.01), dermatologists in private practice (P=0.04), and non-tattooed dermatologists (P0.0001). In multivariate analysis, the main parameter affecting the position of practitioner with regard to tattoos was their personal opinion of tattoos (P0.0001), regardless of disease activity or type of treatment. Italian, Finnish and female dermatologists exhibited greater reluctance but in a less consistent fashion.This analysis suggests a lack of objectivity among dermatologists opposed to tattoos probably stemming more from a poor opinion of this practice than from any fear of complications in their psoriatic patients.

We report a case of a nested melanoma of the elderly, a recently described entity, and we describe its aspect under confocal reflectance microscopy.A 70-year-old woman presented a pigmented lesion of the left leg measuring 2 × 2.5 cm in diameter which was increasing in size. Dermatoscopic examination showed a predominantly globular pattern, with globules of irregular color and distribution. Reflectance confocal microscopy revealed the presence of dense nests at the dermo-epidermal junction with cytologic atypia and pagetoid cells. The histological appearance was overlapping and a diagnosis of nested melanoma of the elderly was made.The presence in an older subject of a large pigmented lesion with an irregular globular pattern should be suspected of nested melanoma of the elderly. Reflectance confocal microscopy may be useful in the case of such difficult lesions to proceed with more confidence to surgical excision.