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Dear Editor, Scabies is a common pruritic ectoparasitic infestation of the skin caused by the mite Sarcoptes scabiei. It classically presents as an intensely pruritic eruption that usually involves hands and interdigital folds, wrists, axillae, areolae, abdomen, and genitalia. In immunocompetent adults, mite infestation affecting the face is considered exceptional; accordingly, if topical treatment is chosen, clinicians typically instruct patients to apply the product to the body, excluding the head area.

Actinic keratoses (AKs) are common skin lesions found on sun-exposed areas and are considered potential precursors to squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs). This observational case-control study evaluates the efficacy of combining traditional daylight photodynamic therapy (DL-PDT) with pre-treatment using 0.005% calcipotriol (CAL) ointment. Twenty immunocompetent male patients with grade I-II AKs on the scalp and/or face were randomized into two groups: the case group received a 14-day pretreatment with CAL ointment before DL-PDT, while the control group used a moisturizing cream. Both groups underwent a series of three DL-PDT sessions. The study utilized the Actinic Keratosis Area Severity Index (AKASI) scoring system to measure the actinic damage at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months post-treatment. Results showed a significant reduction in AKASI scores in the CAL group compared to controls, indicating that CAL pretreatment enhances the efficacy of DL-PDT. This combination treatment was well tolerated, with minimal discomfort reported. The findings suggest that incorporating CAL into the treatment regimen can improve the clearance of AKs and potentially prevent their progression to SCCs.

Cutaneous larva migrans (CLM) is a zoonotic disease endemic in tropical regions. CLM diagnosis mainly relies on the morphology of the skin lesions, however dermoscopy can improve diagnostic accuracy. In this paper, we report two cases of CLM to highlight the importance of dermoscopic follow-up in early identification of treatment failure, as well as the effectiveness of topical ivermectin as a combined medication.

Riehl’s melanosis (RM) is a pigmentary disorder, more common in individuals with dark skin phototypes, considered a form of pigmented contact dermatitis. In this paper we present a case of RM due to the rubber component of a work facial mask in which dermoscopy and patch test were the most important tools to help physicians in diagnosis. In addition, we reviewed the main dermoscopic clues that may be useful in differential diagnosis with others facial pigmentary disorders.

Background: Pilomatrix carcinoma (PC) is a rare skin tumor arising from hair follicle matrix cells. It is locally aggressive with a high rate of local recurrence after surgical excision. Few cases in the literature have been described and the management is not well defined. Objectives: The aim of this study was to present two cases of PC located on the head and review the relevant literature about epidemiology, clinical and dermoscopic evaluation, characteristics of local and distant metastases, local recurrence rate and management of this rare skin tumor. Methods: We consulted databases from PubMed, Research Gate and Google Scholar, from January 2012 to November 2022. We reviewed the literature and reported two additional cases. Results: We selected 52 tumors in middle-aged to older patients located mostly on the head. Dermoscopy evaluation was rarely performed in the pre-operative diagnostic setting. The most definitive treatment was wide local excision, but local recurrences were common. In total, we observed 11 cases of recurrences and 9 patients with locoregional or distant metastases. Four patients received adjuvant radiotherapy, two patients needed chemotherapy and local cancer therapy and one patient received radiochemotherapy. Conclusion: Our reports and the review of the literature can provide a better awareness and management of this rare tumor.

Lyme borreliosis (LB) is the most common vector-borne zoonotic inflammatory disease in the Northern Hemisphere. In Italy, the first case was diagnosed in 1985 in a woman in Liguria, while the second, in 1986 in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, documenting the infection in northern Italy. Both diagnoses were confirmed by serological assessment by an indirect immunofluorescence (IFI) technique. Borrelia cultivation from both Ixodes ricinus ticks and human lesions in Trieste (Friuli-Venezia Giulia) identified Borrelia afzelii as the prevalent genospecies; nevertheless, Borrelia garinii, Borrelia burgdorferi (sensu stricto), and Borrelia valaisiana (VS116 Group) were also detected, although less frequently. LB was also documented in other Italian regions: in Tuscany (1991), Trentino–Alto Adige (1995–1996), Emilia-Romagna (1998), Abruzzo (1998), and more recently, Lombardy. Nevertheless, data on LB in other Italian regions, especially in southern Italy and islands, are poor. The aim of this study is to document the spread of LB in Italy through the collection of data from LB patients in eight Italian hospitals located in different Italian regions. Diagnostic criteria for LB diagnosis are as follows: i) the presence of erythema migrans (EM) or ii) a clinical picture suggestive of LB, confirmed by serological tests and/or PCR positivity for Borrelia detection. In addition, data also included the place of residence (town and region) and the place where patients became infected. During the observation period, 1,260 cases were gathered from the participating centers. Although different in extent from northern Italy to central/southern Italy, this study shows that LB is widespread throughout Italy.

Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is an autoimmune disease with a chronic relapsing course, predominantly affecting elderly people. Drugs are one of the possible triggers. A class of antidiabetic drugs often associated with the development of BP are inhibitors of dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP-4 inhibitors or gliptins), while less known is the association with glucagon-like-peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists. We describe a case of BP caused by dulaglutide and summarize the other few cases described in the literature. As a class of drugs widely used in clinical practice, it is important to know about this possible adverse event.

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Lyme Borreliosis (LB) is an infection transmitted by Ixodes sp. ticks. Its early manifestation includes erythema migrans rash. Since the discovery of LB in 1975, the question arose as to whether this infection could be vertically transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy, as transplacental transmission has already been known for other spirochetoses, such as syphilis, relapsing fever and leptospirosis. The first confirmed case with positive Lyme serology was described in 1985 in a 28-year- old mother who had acquired Lyme in the first trimester and then developed an erythema migrans rash. Subsequently, transmission of Borrelia burgdorferi sl. in humans from mother to fetus has been documented through identification of Borrelia spirochetes in fetal tissues/and or placenta by various methods including culture, PCR and indirect immunofluorescence. Adverse birth outcomes, which are limited in case of prompt LB treatment, included spontaneous miscarriage, preterm birth and hyperbilirubinemia, but also cardiac involvement and cutaneous angiomas have been documented although rarely. No significant associations were found between adverse outcomes at birth and the trimester of infection. Patients treated for gestational LB had a lower frequency of miscarriages and premature births, as also the frequency of congenital malformations was similar to that observed in the normal population. The recommended treatment for LB in pregnancy is Amoxicillin, 1 g 3 times a day for 14–21 days. In the present study, we report our case series, which includes 11 pregnant women, 6 of which developed erythema migrans during pregnancy (between week 8 and 34), 3 had myoarticular or neurological symptoms and 2 had positive serology, but did not develop any clinical symptoms. Our data stress on the importance of early antibiotic treatment also in seropositive gestating women without symptoms in order to avoid any possible complication to fetus and newborns.

Background: Erythema migrans (EM) is the hallmark manifestation of the Lyme borreliosis (LB), and therefore its presence and recognition are sufficient to make a diagnosis and to start proper antibiotic treatment to attempt to eradicate the infection. Methods: In this study we compared the clinical data of 439 patients who presented an EM either according to the diagnostic modality through physical assessment or through telemedicine. Conclusions: Our data clearly show that telemedicine for EM diagnosis is useful as it enables prompt administration of appropriate antibiotic therapy, which is critical to avoid complications, especially for neurologic and articular entities. Therefore, telemedicine is a tool that could be adopted for the diagnosis of Lyme disease both by specialized centers but also by general practitioners.

Introduction: The International Dermoscopy Society (IDS) conducted an online survey to investigate the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak on the daily practice of dermatologists working with skin cancer patients, to collect data regarding the frequency of skin manifestations noticed by the members, and to obtain information about the use of teledermatology during the pandemic. Methods: All IDS members were asked to fill in a questionnaire, sent by email. A questionnaire available in English was sent to all IDS members (≈16.0000 members) by email. The questionnaire was anonymous, with a compiling time of less than 5 minutes. The survey was open for 30 days (from April 24, 2020 to May 24, 2020) and it could only be filled out once. Results: Overall, 678 dermatologists responded to the questionnaire; 334 members stated that there has been a reduction of more than 75% in daily work activity during the pandemic, 265 dermatologists worked fewer days per week, and 118 experienced telemedicine for the first time. Acrodermatitis was the most frequently observed skin manifestation (n = 80) followed by urticarial rash (n = 69), morbilliform rash (n = 53) and purpuric manifestation (n = 40). In regard to the role of teledermatology, 565 dermatologists reported an increased number of teleconsultations, and the number of melanomas diagnosed during the pandemic was practically 0 for 385 (56.78%) of respondents. Conclusion: This survey highlights that the outbreak had a negative impact on most dermatology services, with a significant reduction in consultation time spent for chronic patients, and an increased risk of missed melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) diagnosis. Moreover, our study confirms earlier findings of a wide range of skin manifestations associated with COVID-19.

Melanoma diagnosed during childbearing period or up to 1 year after delivery is defined as pregnancy-associated melanoma (PAM). There is some evidence that PAM has worse prognosis if compared with melanoma in nonpregnant women, although literature is still inconclusive. Many biological mechanisms could explain this behavior, such as hormonal and immune status, increased lymphangiogenesis but also delay in diagnostic and therapeutic management. If PAM is suspected, a prompt excisional biopsy under local anesthesia can be performed regardless of the gestational period. Conversely, additional staging procedures (such as sentinel lymph node biopsy or imaging) and systemic therapy are still debatable during pregnancy. A multidisciplinary tailored approach should be preferred, together with exhaustive counseling of the mother.

The association of melanoma with a preexisting nevus is still a debated subject. Histopathological data support an associated nevus in approximately 30% of all excised melanomas. The annual risk of an individual melanocytic nevus becoming malignant is extremely low and has been estimated to be approximately 0.0005% (or less than 1 in 200,000) before the age of 40 years, to 0.003% (1 in 33,000) in patients older than 60 years. Current understanding, based on the noticeable, small, truly congenital nevi and nevi acquired early in life, is that the first develops before puberty, presents with a dermoscopic globular pattern, and persists for the lifetime, becoming later a dermal nevus in the adult. In contrast, acquired melanocytic nevi develop mostly at puberty and usually undergo spontaneous involution after the fifth decade of life. The purpose of this review is to analyze the data of the literature and to propose, on the basis of epidemiological and clinical-dermoscopic characteristics, a new model of melanogenesis of nevus-associated melanoma.

Borreliae are divided into three groups, namely the Lyme group (LG), the Echidna-Reptile group (REPG) and the Relapsing Fever group (RFG). Currently, only Borrelia of the Lyme and RF groups (not all) cause infection in humans. Borreliae of the Echidna-Reptile group represent a new monophyletic group of spirochaetes, which infect amphibians and reptiles. In addition to a general description of the phylum Spirochaetales, including a brief historical digression on spirochaetosis, in the present review Borreliae of Lyme and Echidna-Reptile groups are described, discussing the ecology with vectors and hosts as well as microbiological features and molecular characterization. Furthermore, differences between LG and RFG are discussed with respect to the clinical manifestations. In humans, LG Borreliae are organotropic and cause erythema migrans in the early phase of the disease, while RFG Borreliae give high spirochaetemia with fever, without the development of erythema migrans. With respect of LG Borreliae, recently Borrelia mayonii, with intermediate characteristics between LG and RFG, has been identified. As part of the LG, it gives erythema migrans but also high spirochaetemia with fever. Hard ticks are vectors for both LG and REPG groups, but in LG they are mostly Ixodes sp. ticks, while in REPG vectors do not belong to that genus.

Borreliae of the relapsing fever group (RFG) are heterogenous and can be divided mainly into three groups according to vectors, namely the soft-tick-borne relapsing fever (STBRF) Borreliae, the hard-tick-borne relapsing fever (HTBRF) Borreliae, the louse-borne relapsing fever (LBRF) Borreliae, and the avian relapsing fever ones. With respect to the geographical distribution, the STBRF Borreliae are further subdivided into Old World and New World strains. Except for the Avian relapsing fever group Borreliae, which cause avian spirochetosis, all the others share infectivity in humans. They are indeed the etiological agent of both endemic and epidemic forms of relapsing fever, causing high spirochaetemia and fever. Vectors are primarily soft ticks of Ornithodoros spp. in the STBRF group; hard ticks, notably Ixodes sp., Amblyomma sp., Dermacentor sp., and Rhipicephalus sp., in the HTBRF group; and the louse pediculus humanus humanus in the TBRF one. A recent hypothesis was supported for a common ancestor of RFG Borreliae, transmitted at the beginning by hard-body ticks. Accordingly, STBRF Borreliae switched to use soft-bodied ticks as a vector, which was followed by the use of lice by Borrelia recurrentis. There are also new candidate species of Borreliae, at present unclassified, which are also described in this review.

There have been increasing reports of skin manifestations in COVID-19 patients. We conducted a systematic review and included manuscripts describing patients with positive RT-PCR coronavirus testing from nasopharyngeal swabs who also developed cutaneous manifestations. A total of 655 patients were selected, with different types of skin rashes: Erythematous maculopapular (n = 250), vascular (n = 146), vesicular (n = 99), urticarial (n = 98), erythema multiforme/generalized pustular figurate erythema/Stevens-Johnson syndrome (n = 22), ocular/periocular (n = 14), polymorphic pattern (n = 9), generalized pruritus (n = 8), Kawasaki disease (n = 5), atypical erythema nodosum (n = 3), and atypical Sweet syndrome (n = 1). Chilblain-like lesions were more frequent in the younger population and were linked to a milder disease course, while fixed livedo racemosa and retiform purpura appeared in older patients and seemed to predict a more severe prognosis. For vesicular rashes, PCR determined the presence of herpesviruses in the vesicle fluid, which raised the possibility of herpesvirus co-infections. The erythema-multiforme-like pattern, generalized pustular figurate erythema and Stevens-Johnson syndrome were most frequently linked to hydroxychloroquine intake. A positive PCR determination of SARS-COV-2 from conjunctival swabs suggest that eye discharge can also be contagious. These cutaneous manifestations may aid in identifying otherwise asymptomatic COVID-19 carriers in some cases or predict a more severe evolution in others.

Adamantiades-Behçet′s disease (ABD) is a chronic-relapsing, inflammatory and multi-systemic disease. Any organ or system may be involved: ABD presents a great variety of cutaneous and mucosal lesions, ocular manifestations, central and peripheral nervous system abnormalities, joint as well as gastrointestinal involvement. Since clear pathognomonic clinical features and laboratory tests are lacking, the diagnosis of ABD mainly relies on the characteristic clinical features. Several sets of diagnostic criteria have been used. The International Study Group for Behηet Disease (ISGBD) in 1990 formulated a set of criteria to warrant uniformity of both diagnosis and classification. Therefore, in 2006, a new set was proposed by the International Team for the Revision of the International Criteria for Behηet′s Disease (ITR-ICBD) not only to uniform the previous criteria but also to establish best accuracy, along with an optimum sensivity and specificity. The aims of this study are both to analyze the clinical features of ABD patients and to validate the ISGBD and ITR-ICDB criteria for the diagnosis of ABD in our cohort.

Seborrheic pemphigoid (SP), first described in 1969 by Schnyder, is a peculiar variant of BP which clinically resembles pemphigus erythematosus, since it is characterized by ruptured bullae and erosions covered with crusts involving the seborrheic areas. To the best of our knowledge, from the first description only four other cases of SP have been reported, of which two are in the English literature. We report an additional case of SP in a 56-year-old man with cervical spondylogenic myelopathy with very impaired mobility.

Background. Although techniques of immunophenotyping have been successful in characterizing the cells in the cutaneous infiltrates of mycosis fungoides little evidence suggests that variations in the phenotypic characterization correlate with prognosis. Objectives. In a preliminary prospective, single-centre, study we correlated the T-cell phenotype in cutaneous biopsies with the progression of the disease to determine whether the coexpression of CD4 and CD8 has an impact on prognosis. Methods. Skin biopsy specimens from 30 newly diagnosed patients were stained with immunoperoxidase techniques to determine their phenotypic characteristics. After a median followup of 42 months patients were divided into two groups with stable and progressive disease. Results. Eighteen patients had the conventional CD4+CD8− T-cell phenotype. Ten patients showed the coexpression of CD4 and CD8 and had a slightly lower rate of progressive disease. Conclusions. The coexpression of CD4 and CD8 in cutaneous lesions is not rare and is associated with a slightly lower rate of progressive disease. Since double positive CD4/CD8 phenotype is rarely reported in mycosis fungoides the presence on conventional immunophenotyping of both CD may be due to a “mixture” of neoplastic cells and inflammatory CD8+ tumor infiltrating lymphocytes. Immunohistochemical study combined with confocal microscopy could clarify this issue.