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Difficulty in patient access to care and affordability are major problems faced by our dermatology specialty in the United States. However, Taiwan provides adequate and affordable dermatologic care for all of its citizens. Herein we describe our first-hand observations and findings of the outpatient dermatology experience in Taipei, and contrast it to the experience in the United States.In Taipei, Taiwan, we observed patient management, electronic documentation, and billing during outpatient dermatology visits in five settings: one academic hospital outpatient dermatology department, one academic hospital Information Technology department, and three private dermatologists' offices. Through our observations, we found that the dermatology specialty in Taiwan is able to overcome challenges with access to care and affordability through three key system features: (1) short yet frequent patient visits (2) close proximity of ancillary staff, and (3) an integrated and paperless electronic medical record and billing system.The Taiwan system is attained with some sacrifice, such as shorter time spent with patients and less personalized care. However, because this system can meet the basic dermatological needs of the entire population, possibly better than our current system, it behooves us to study the Taiwan system with respect and care.

Psychodermatology is an underappreciated field that studies psychocutaneous disorders, which are conditions that have both dermatologic and psychiatric characteristics. Underlying psychiatric comorbidity is estimated to occur in up to one-third of dermatologic patients, and psychiatric illness may either be the cause or the consequence of dermatologic disease. Psychodermatologic patients lack insight and often do not recognize a psychiatric etiology for their symptoms and therefore comprise some of the most challenging cases to treat. Herein, we discuss the background and clinical presentation of the most commonly encountered psychodermatologic conditions, including delusional infestation, neurotic excoriations, factitial dermatitis, trichotillomania and body dysmorphic disorder, followed by practical diagnostic and therapeutic recommendations.

Cyclosporine has been in worldwide use for 15 years for patients who have undergone transplantation operations and is now being used to control inflammatory reactions in other organs (eg, joints, bowel, and skin). Neoral, a more consistently absorbed form of cyclosporine, has recently been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of psoriasis. This report outlines the indications, contraindications, dosage recommendations, monitoring requirements, adverse events, drug interactions, interactions with other psoriasis treatments, and suggestions for cyclosporine's use in rotational therapy. (J Am Acad Dermatol 1998;39:464-75.)

We present the case of a 90-year-old woman with psoriasis vulgaris who had been treated with methotrexate for many years. The patient presented with psoriatic plaque ulcerations uniquely limited to the active border as well as acute oral ulcerations and severe gastrointestinal upset after undergoing a course of ciprofloxacin for treatment of a bacterial infection.

When patients with psychodermatologic disorders present in clinic, the dermatologist can refer them to psychiatrists or other mental health care professionals. However, it is often the case that these patients will refuse a psychiatric referral because they either do not believe they have a disorder of psychiatric nature or they feel there is societal stigma associated with psychiatric illness. Therefore, it is essential for dermatologists to understand the common classifications for psychodermatological cases and to know how to optimally treat these patients with pharmacotherapy. The intent of this article is to help guide physicians in understanding the classifications of psychodermatological cases and in managing these conditions with pharmacotherapies. In this article, two classifications for psychodermatological cases are presented, followed by a discussion of medical therapies used to treat the main categories of psychopathologies that are more frequently encountered in dermatology. These include depression, anxiety, delusions, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) is a frequently fatal demyelinating disease of the brain caused by activation of the John Cunningham virus. It typically occurs in immunocompromised patients, including transplant recipients on immunosuppressant medications, patients receiving chemotherapy for hematologic malignancies, and patients with human immunodeficiency virus. Unfortunately, there is no effective treatment for PML. By contrast, reversible progressive leukoencephalopathy syndrome (RPLS) is a generally treatable disorder that is diagnosed based on clinical symptoms (eg, altered mental status, visual abnormalities, headache, and seizures) and neuroradiographic changes (eg, cerebral edema). It is classically associated with malignant hypertension and immunosuppressive medications. Symptoms usually resolve over time, or with treatment of the underlying cause. Amid the relatively recent withdrawal of efalizumab from the US market because of its association with PML, and the added warning found on ustekinumab describing RPLS as a possible adverse effect, there has been an increasing level of concern in dermatology that biologics and other systemic medications used in the treatment of psoriasis may be related to an increased risk of specific leukoencephalopathies. In this review, we evaluate the association of prebiologics (eg, cyclosporine, methotrexate, acitretin) and biologics (eg, adalimumab, alefacept, efalizumab, etanercept, infliximab, rituximab, and ustekinumab) with the potential risk of developing PML and RPLS.

Psoriasis is among the top dermatologic diagnoses for older adult patients, and the number of older adult psoriasis patients is expected to rise.To characterize trends in older adult psoriasis health care practices of US ambulatory physician offices from 1993 to 2009.We used data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey to assess demographics, specialties seen, and treatment in visits by older adult patients, 55 years of age and older.There were approximately 14.1 million outpatient visits for psoriasis among the older adult population during the study period. Older adult psoriasis patients were 52.4% female and 47.6% male. The most frequent older adult age group seen for psoriasis was the 55 to 64 year age group. Dermatologists saw 69.3% of patients, internists saw 14.5%, and general and family practitioners saw 11.6%. Topical corticosteroids were the most frequently prescribed medications. Dermatologists preferred clobetasol whereas non-dermatologists more commonly prescribed betamethasone. For both the 18 to 54 year age group and the 55 and older group, the leading 7 out of 10 medications prescribed were topical corticosteroids and calcipotriene. However, etanercept, coal tar, and fluocinolone were among the leading medications in the younger group but not in the 55 and older group.Treatment approach for older adult psoriasis patients showed some differences among medical specialties and among the younger and older age groups. Further research specific to older adult psoriasis patients is needed to determine optimal treatment strategies for this patient population.

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease that is characterized by thickened red plaques covered with silvery scales. Excimer laser therapy is a cutting-edge advancement in UVB phototherapy. In contrast to traditional phototherapy, the 308 nm excimer laser only targets psoriasis plaques, while it spares uninvolved skin. It allows for treatment with a supra-erythmogenic dose of UVB irradiation. Targeted UVB therapy is a possible treatment especially for many who have failed topical treatments, systemic therapy, and traditional phototherapy. For safe and effective psoriasis treatment, a combination of therapies may be used, including a combination of laser treatment with topical medications. We present two cases demonstrating effective treatment with excimer laser in conjunction with clobetasol spray and calcitriol ointment for 12 weeks. Long-term near-clearance of psoriasis was sustained after 6 months and one-year follow up periods without further therapy.

Psoriasis is a chronic, inflammatory skin condition with negative impacts both physical and psychological. Scalp psoriasis, especially around the hairline, can cause significant impairment in quality of life due to its visibility. Options for treatment of facial psoriasis, including hairline involvement, are the use of low potency topical steroids, calcineurin inhibitors, and vitamin D analogues. Though the use of excimer laser for scalp psoriasis has been reported, there are no cases or studies specifically examining excimer laser phototherapy for the treatment of hairline psoriasis. We present a case of rapid improvement of hairline psoriasis using a regimen of 308 nm excimer laser with clobetasol spray and recommend an algorithm for the optimal treatment of scalp psoriasis utilizing currently available antipsoriatic therapies.

The treatment options for psoriasis in HIV-infected individuals are limited due to the immunosuppressive nature of the therapeutic modalities and the patient's immunocompromised state. Etanercept has been shown to be safe and effective in the non-HIV psoriasis population with nearly 20 years of experience. However, there is limited data on the safety of etanercept use in the HIV patient population. The authors report a case of an HIV-infected patient with psoriasis who has remained mostly clear on continuous, uninterrupted etanercept use for over six years.

Delusions of parasitosis (DOP) is a psychiatric disorder characterized by the fixed false belief that one is infested with parasites or other organisms. Historically, pimozide, a first-generation antipsychotic, has been the treatment of choice for DOP, although there is risk for serious adverse effects including extrapyramidal symptoms, QTc prolongation and tardive dyskinesia. Recently, there have been several reports describing the effectiveness of second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs), but these agents have their own unique adverse effects, specifically metabolic changes with olanzapine, sedation with quetiapine and hyperprolactinemia with risperidone. Aripiprazole is a novel, third-generation antipsychotic with comparable efficacy to SGAs, but a more favorable side effect profile. Successful treatment of DOP with aripiprazole has recently been described in the psychiatric and dermatologic literature. The authors present another report to support the use of aripiprazole as an efficacious and safe alternative for treating DOP.

Psoriasis is a common, chronic, inflammatory, multisystem disease with predominantly skin and joint manifestations affecting approximately 2% of the population. In the first 5 parts of the American Academy of Dermatology Psoriasis Guidelines of Care, we have presented evidence supporting the use of topical treatments, phototherapy, traditional systemic agents, and biological therapies for patients with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. In this sixth and final section of the Psoriasis Guidelines of Care, we will present cases to illustrate how to practically use these guidelines in specific clinical scenarios. We will describe the approach to treating patients with psoriasis across the entire spectrum of this fascinating disease from mild to moderate to severe, with and without psoriatic arthritis, based on the 5 prior published guidelines. Although specific therapeutic recommendations are given for each of the cases presented, it is important that treatment be tailored to meet individual patients' needs. In addition, we will update the prior 5 guidelines and address gaps in research and care that currently exist, while making suggestions for further studies that could be performed to help address these limitations in our knowledge base.

Moderate to severe psoriasis often requires systemic treatment, but even biologic medications do not always induce complete clearing in patients. In many instances, physicians supplement biologic treatment with topical agents as adjunctive therapy to obtain additional clearing of plaques. To evaluate the effectiveness of the addition of a superpotent corticosteroid--clobetasol propionate spray 0.05%--to various psoriasis treatments, a phase 4, multicenter, open-label, community-based trial was conducted. In this study, clobetasol propionate spray 0.05% applied twice daily was added on to a variety of existing stable treatments including systemic biologic agents in participants with moderate, severe, or very severe plaque psoriasis. The decision to add clobetasol propionate spray 0.05% to stable psoriasis therapy was determined by each investigator based on his/her evaluation of a participant's needs. A total of 159 participants from the trial adhered to stable (or = 3 months' duration) therapeutic regimens that included a biologic treatment. In this population, at the end of the study period, 81.0% of participants with moderate disease at baseline, 79.5% of participants with severe disease at baseline, and 58.8% of participants with very severe disease at baseline were rated as clear or almost clear (target plaque severity [TPS]). Worst skin tolerability response was assessed postbaseline and included erythema (20.3% mild, 8.9% moderate, 1.9% severe), peeling (26.6% mild, 7.0% moderate, 1.3% severe), dryness (34.8% mild, 8.9% moderate, 1.3% severe), and stinging (25.3% mild, 3.8% moderate, 0.6% severe). Telangiectasia and skin atrophy were reported in 1.3% of participants each at some point during the study (postbaseline). Pruritus was reported in 7.6% of participants and folliculitis was reported in 1.9% of participants. Eight participants experienced adverse events (AEs) that were regarded as probably related to the study medication (clobetasol propionate spray 0.05%). Because those participants who entered the study already were receiving one medication (the biologic agent), it is believed that most of the reported AEs were due to the addition of clobetasol propionate spray 0.05%, and those AEs associated with the biologic agent and/or the combination of the two may be underreported. Although the results of this study are intriguing, further research is needed to evaluate if the addition of topical therapies, such as superpotent corticosteroids, are effective and safe options for treating psoriasis plaques when control with biologic therapy is not fully effective on its own.

Psoriasis is a common, chronic, inflammatory, multisystem disease with predominantly skin and joint manifestations affecting approximately 2% of the population. In this fifth of 6 sections of the guidelines of care for psoriasis, we discuss the use of ultraviolet (UV) light therapy for the treatment of patients with psoriasis. Treatment should be tailored to meet individual patients' needs. We will discuss in detail the efficacy and safety as well as offer recommendations for the use of phototherapy, including narrowband and broadband UVB and photochemotherapy using psoralen plus UVA, alone and in combination with topical and systemic agents. We will also discuss the available data for the use of the excimer laser in the targeted treatment of psoriasis. Finally, where available, we will summarize the available data that compare the safety and efficacy of the different forms of UV light therapy.

Psoriasis is a common, chronic, inflammatory, multisystem disease with predominantly skin and joint manifestations affecting approximately 2% of the population. In this fourth of 6 sections of the guidelines of care for psoriasis, we discuss the use of traditional systemic medications for the treatment of patients with psoriasis. Treatment should be tailored to meet individual patients' needs. We will discuss in detail the efficacy and safety, and offer recommendations for the use of the 3 most commonly used, and approved, traditional systemic agents: methotrexate, cyclosporine, and acitretin. We will also briefly discuss the available data for the use of azathioprine, fumaric acid esters, hydroxyurea, leflunomide, mycophenolate mofetil, sulfasalazine, tacrolimus, and 6-thioguanine in psoriasis.

Psychologic factors may play a significant role in acne in at least three ways. First, as many patients readily report, emotional stress can exacerbate acne. Second, it is common for patients to develop psychiatric problems as a consequence of the conditions, such as those related to low self-esteem, social phobias, or depression. Finally, primary psychiatric illnesses such as obsessive-compulsive disorder and psychosis may be based on a complaint that is focused on acne. In this review we hope to facilitate an understanding of how emotional factors and acne connect, and aid the dermatologist in identifying the possible presence of psychiatric problems stemming from or contributing to the disorder.

Psoriasis is a common, chronic, inflammatory, multi-system disease with predominantly skin and joint manifestations affecting approximately 2% of the population. In this third of 6 sections of the guidelines of care for psoriasis, we discuss the use of topical medications for the treatment of psoriasis. The majority of patients with psoriasis have limited disease (5% body surface area involvement) and can be treated with topical agents, which generally provide a high efficacy-to-safety ratio. Topical agents may also be used adjunctively for patients with more extensive psoriasis undergoing therapy with either ultraviolet light, systemic or biologic medications. However, the use of topical agents as monotherapy in the setting of extensive disease or in the setting of limited, but recalcitrant, disease is not routinely recommended. Treatment should be tailored to meet individual patients' needs. We will discuss the efficacy and safety of as well as offer recommendations for the use of topical corticosteroids, vitamin D analogues, tazarotene, tacrolimus, pimecrolimus, emollients, salicylic acid, anthralin, coal tar, as well as combination therapy.

Psoriasis is a common, chronic, inflammatory, multisystem disease with predominantly skin and joint manifestations affecting approximately 2% of the population. In this first of 5 sections of the guidelines of care for psoriasis, we discuss the classification of psoriasis; associated comorbidities including autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular risk, psychiatric/psychologic issues, and cancer risk; along with assessment tools for skin disease and quality-of-life issues. Finally, we will discuss the safety and efficacy of the biologic treatments used to treat patients with psoriasis.

Psoriasis is a common, chronic, inflammatory, multisystem disease with predominantly skin and joint manifestations affecting approximately 2% of the population. In this second of 5 sections of the guidelines of care for psoriasis, we give an overview of psoriatic arthritis including its cardinal clinical features, pathogenesis, prognosis, classification, assessment tools used to evaluate psoriatic arthritis, and the approach to treatment. Although patients with mild to moderate psoriatic arthritis may be treated with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and/or intra-articular steroid injections, the use of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, particularly methotrexate, along with the biologic agents, are considered the standard of care in patients with more significant psoriatic arthritis. We will discuss the use of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs and the biologic therapies in the treatment of patients with moderate to severe psoriatic arthritis.

The goal of psoriasis therapy is shifting from an emphasis on the short-term management of severe outbreaks to the maintenance of continuous long-term control. Topical corticosteroids play an important role in all of the therapeutic strategies used. The Clobex Spray Community-Based Research Assessment (COBRA) trial involved 455 community dermatologists throughout the United States who participated in a multicenter, 4-week, open-label, observational, community-based trial of twice-daily clobetasol propionate spray 0.05% as monotherapy or as an addition to a treatment regimen present at the time of study entry. Dermatologists were allowed to select study participants based on their own professional judgment, which resulted in the largest number of study participants ever enrolled in a psoriasis community-based trial, with 2488 subjects enrolled from 455 investigational sites. Of the total population, 1254 subjects with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis treated with clobetasol propionate spray 0.05% twice daily as monotherapy and 731 subjects treated with clobetasol propionate spray 0.05% twice daily in addition to an existing regimen were evaluated for efficacy with at least one follow-up visit. Data from this trial suggest that superpotent topical corticosteroids are appropriate for use as monotherapy and when added to existing therapeutic regimens. The effectiveness and tolerability results from this study suggest that clobetasol propionate spray 0.05% is a potent, well-tolerated, and versatile topical therapy for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis that may be used in a diverse range of settings to help dermatologists optimize response to therapy.

HIV-associated psoriasis appears paradoxical, being a T-cell mediated disease in the face of decreasing T-cell counts. Furthermore, psoriasis is generally mediated by type-1 cytokines, whereas in HIV, type-2 cytokines tend to predominate. How can one have psoriasis in the essentially Th2 environment of HIV? The details and pertinent research regarding T cell subsets and cytokine profiles in psoriasis, HIV, and HIV-associated psoriasis were reviewed. It appears that both in the presence and absence of HIV infection, psoriasis is largely mediated by memory CD8 T cells, and that IFN-gamma secreted by these cells and others is of key importance. Studying psoriasis in a model such as HIV in which certain elements of the immune system are stripped away or altered may help us better understand the pathogenic mechanisms and potential treatment targets for psoriasis vulgaris.

Combination therapy for moderate to severe psoriasis is often used to enhance efficacy and minimize treatment-related side effects; however, data are limited on combination therapy with the newer biologic agents. The current study examined patients who received alefacept in combination with ultraviolet B phototherapy as part of an international, open-label study evaluating up to 3 courses of alefacept in combination with other psoriasis therapies. Physician Global Assessment [corrected] scores improved by [greater than or equal to] 1 category in 88% [corrected] of patients and by [greater than or equal to] 2 categories in 76% [corrected] of patients in course A; [corrected] corresponding response rates were 100% and 55% in Course [corrected] B, and 85% and 77% in Course [corrected] C. At week 14, a PGA of "almost clear" or "clear" was achieved by 13%, 14%, and 8% of patients in courses A, B, and C, respectively. There was no evidence of a cumulative effect on T cells after multiple courses of therapy. The combination of alefacept and ultraviolet B was well tolerated and provided improvement in psoriasis.

Childhood and adolescent obsessive-compulsive disorders are sometimes seen in dermatology practice. When present, OCD is most frequently manifested in younger patients as trichotillomania, onychotillomania, onychophagia, and acne excoriee. In addition to these disorders, obsessive hand washing, AIDS phobia, and other psychosomatic dermatoses characterized by obsessive-compulsive tendencies are seen in all age groups. It is important to define the nature of any underlying psychiatric disorder before beginning drug treatment of these patients. With the availability of new medications, most notably, clomipramine and fluoxetine, there is reason for optimism regarding the treatment of OCD. Whenever feasible, the dermatologist should not hesitate to involve a psychiatrist to help with diagnosis and treatment when the diagnosis of OCD is being considered.