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Introduction: Patients with serious comorbidities are traditionally excluded from clinical trials. Apremilast is not contraindicated in active infections, malignancy and serious hepatic or renal impairment, but real-life data is needed to support this recommendation., Objectives: The aim of this paper is to present our personal as well as literature-sourced real-world evidenced on apremilast use in psoriasis patients with serious baseline comorbidities., Methods: A case-series and systematic literature review were performed. The psoriasis archives of a tertiary-care hospital, four electronic databases (MEDLINE, ScienceDirect, Cochrane Library, Google scholar) and other sources were searched (January 2014 - July 2021). Identified records were considered eligible, if they reported on the use of apremilast monotherapy in psoriasis patients with chronic infections, history of malignancy, serious liver, renal, psychiatric, or other disease(s)., Results: At least 841 psoriasis patients with serious baseline diseases received apremilast. Only 3 cases of cancer progression and no infection reactivations or worsening of other diseases were documented. No increased frequency/severity of adverse events or reduced drug efficacy were noted. Main limitations of this study are the exclusion of a few reports due to inappropriately documented data and the fact that at least some patients might have been counted more than once., Conclusions: Apremilast is a safe and adequately efficacious option for psoriasis that cannot be treated/is challenging to treat with classic systemic agents and/or biologics., Competing Interests: Competing Interests: None., (©2022 Tsentemeidou et al.)

Competing Interests: Competing interests: None.

Introduction: Pain is experienced by most patients with hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) and has a severe impact on their quality of life. Its management still presents a challenge. Adalimumab, a TNF-a antagonist, has shown promising results in HS-related pain reduction., Objectives: To aggregate and synthesize all existing evidence regarding the effect of adalimumab on HS-associated pain., Methods: We identified original controlled and uncontrolled studies with participants receiving adalimumab, which included change in pain score post-treatment compared to baseline as an end-point. We searched MEDLINE, ScienceDirect, the Cochrane Library, ClinicalTrials.gov and International Clinical Trials Registry Platform. The primary endpoint of our study was the mean change (continuous variable) of pain scores at week 12 compared to baseline., Results: We performed a meta-analysis of 4 randomized controlled trials (282 patients in the intervention group and 266 patients in the control group). Adalimumab brought about a 0.418 reduction in mean pain score at its worst with 95%CI [-0.588, -0.248] and P = 0.000 at 12 weeks after treatment commencement. Four more studies were included in a qualitative synthesis, 2 of which reported statistically significant reduction in pain scores at week 12., Conclusions: Adalimumab could be prescribed more readily in cases of HS associated with significant pain., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None., (©2022 Tsentemeidou et al.)

Introduction: Drug survival is an indirect measure of efficacy and safety and its post-marketing assessment using real-life data is invaluable., Objectives: To investigate the survival of apremilast in a cohort of psoriasis patients treated with apremilast in a Greek hospital., Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study examined adult psoriasis patients receiving apremilast (March 2016 to January 2021). Primary endpoint was the cumulative survival probability at 52 weeks. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to calculate survival probability. Cox regression analysis was performed to investigate potential risk factors for apremilast discontinuation., Results: One hundred and two patients (29.4% females) with a mean age of 55.9 years (standard deviation 15.21) were included. Sixty-five patients (63.7%) had discontinued treatment by lock date: 19 (18.6%) due to lack of efficacy, 24 (23.5%) due to loss of efficacy, 15 (14.7%) due to adverse reactions, and 7 (6.9%) due to other reasons. Cumulative survival probability at 52 weeks was 52.1%. Median survival time for all reasons for discontinuation was 58 weeks (95% Confidence Interval 40.02, 75.98)., Conclusions: Approximately half of patients remained on apremilast after 1 year of treatment. Secondary drug failure was the most common reason for discontinuation., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None., (©2022 Sotiriou et al.)

Competing Interests: Competing interests: None.

Background: In spite of recent advances in the histopathological and molecular diagnosis of melanocytic neoplasms, a certain proportion of these lesions remain a daunting challenge for both the clinician and the pathologist., Objectives: To emphasize the importance of close collaboration between clinicians and pathologists in case of problematic melanocytic lesions., Patients: We report and discuss 5 problematic scenarios of melanocytic lesions, including tumoral melanosis, nevoid melanoma, lentiginous melanoma, spitzoid melanoma and BAPoma that may pose diagnostic difficulties in our practice., Conclusions: Clinico-dermoscopic-pathological correlation, with incorporation of all the available data, in problematic melanocytic skin neoplasms is of paramount importance for accurate diagnosis., Competing Interests: Competing interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Skin cancer, including melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC), represents the most common type of malignancy in the white population. The incidence rate of melanoma is increasing worldwide, while the associated mortality remains stable, or is slightly decreasing. On the other hand, the incidence for NMSC varies widely, with the highest rates reported in Australia. In the current review, we highlight recent global trends in epidemiology of skin cancer. We discuss controversial issues raised in current epidemiological data, we analyze the most important risk factors associated with the development of melanoma and NMSC and the impact of skin cancer on health care services. Furthermore, we underline the pressing need for improved registration policies, especially for NMSC, and lastly, we refer to the ongoing primary and secondary prevention strategies and their outcomes so far., Competing Interests: Competing interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Dermoscopy is already considered a fairly established method for diagnosing scabies. This is because dermoscopy enables the visualization both of the burrow and the mite itself, forming the so-called "jet with a contrail" structure. In the present report we present an extraordinary case of a patient with scabies lesions on the face and neck, which was misdiagnosed during sequential visits and underwent unnecessary surgical diagnostic procedures. Finally, the diagnostic problem was solved when dermoscopy was applied., Competing Interests: Competing interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Background: Biologic agents are routinely used in the treatment of severe psoriasis. The evaluation of treatment response is mainly based on the physician's global clinical assessment., Objective: To investigate whether dermoscopy might enhance the assessment of response of psoriasis to treatment with biologic agents., Methods: Patients with severe psoriasis scheduled to receive a biologic agent were enrolled in the study. A target lesion from each patient was clinically and dermoscopically documented at baseline and after one, two and six months. The clinical response was evaluated by the recruiting clinicians at all visits, while dermoscopic images were evaluated by two independent investigators, blinded to the clinical information. Chi Square test was used for cross-tabulation comparisons, while odds ratios, 95% confidence intervals and p values were calculated using univariate logistic regression., Results: Overall, there was a significant correlation between clinical response and vessel distribution at all time points: a regular vessel distribution correlated with no response, a clustered distribution with partial response, and the dermoscopic absence of vessels with complete response. The presence of dermoscopic hemorrhagic dots was a potent predictor of favorable clinical response at the subsequent visit at all time points. Among lesions initially clinically responding and later recurring, 87.5% displayed dermoscopic dotted vessels despite the macroscopic remission., Conclusion: Dermoscopy might be a useful additional tool for evaluating the response of psoriatic patients to biologic agents. Hemorrhagic dots represent an early predictor of clinical response, while the persistence or reappearance of dotted vessels might predict clinical persistence or recurrence, respectively., Competing Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Lichen planus (LP) is an inflammatory disease that affects the skin-mainly the extremities and the trunk-the mucous membranes, the genitalia, the nails and the scalp. The diagnosis of LP is usually established clinically based on the typical morphology and distribution of the lesions in conjunction with the associated itch. We report a patient with LP manifesting highly psoriasiform lesions, that could only be correctly assessed after the application of dermoscopy, which revealed LP-specific findings., Competing Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.