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In recent years, as the implementation and use of NIPT have increased, the cost of the test has been decreasing. The cost of NIPT is expected to fall further in the upcoming years. As a result of the decreasing cost of NIPT, many jurisdictions may change their prenatal screening policies towards abandoning serum-based screening and instead, implement and support NIPT as the first-tier screening for all women. There are several concerns in replacing first-trimester screening with NIPT. In this scoping review, we aimed to map the existing knowledge about possible issues in the systematic implementation of NIPT as the primary method of first-tier screening, and to assess if any jurisdiction has altered its policy and discontinued serum based prenatal screening in exchange for NIPT. The Medline database (Ovid) and Google Scholar was searched and all the studies discussing, investigating, or reporting on the systematic implementation of NIPT as the primary method of first-tier screening were included. All the studies went through a two-stage screening process and included full-text articles were reviewed and charted, and the data is summarized narratively and put in tables. Findings from this scoping review may be informative for stakeholders and policymakers regarding recent changes in NIPT implementation policies around the world and may aid with developing policy for NIPT implementation with a broader perspective. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Background and objectives Pemphigus is a group of autoimmune diseases characterized by intraepidermal acantholytic blisters. Isomorphic responses, or Koebner phenomenon (KP), defined as the appearance of typical lesions of a disease following trauma are rarely reported in pemphigus. Our aim was to present patients who developed new pemphigus lesions as a result of skin trauma. Patients and methods The medical files of pemphigus patients from the Autoimmune Bullous Diseases Research Center, who had a history of trauma before the onset or flare of their disease, between 1999 and 2013 were reviewed. Results Thirty-six pemphigus vulgaris (PV) patients had a history of trauma. Thirteen patients developed new-onset PV and the other 23 had previously been diagnosed with PV. Pemphigus lesions developed most often following major surgeries including abdominal, orthopedic, and chest surgeries as well as dental procedures, blunt physical trauma, and skin surgeries. Moreover, post-cataract laser surgery, burns, radiation therapy, and physiotherapy were also shown to induce pemphigus. Mean time between trauma and lesions was 4.7 weeks for recurrent PV and 15.0 weeks for new-onset PV. Conclusions Unnecessary surgery and blunt trauma should be avoided in pemphigus patients. Furthermore, posttraumatic pemphigus should be suspected in poorly healing surgical wounds and confirmatory biopsies are mandatory.

Summary Background/Purpose Narrowband ultraviolet B (NB-UVB) has been accepted as an effective therapy for generalized vitiligo. On the other hand, different factors seem to contribute to a good response. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the influence of disease duration on its clinical response to NB-UVB phototherapy. Methods In this open and uncontrolled study, vitiligo was considered ‘recent’ when the duration of disease was less than or equal to 4 years and ‘long standing’ when it was greater than 4 years. The patients received NB-UVB thrice weekly with an initial dose of 200 mJ/cm2 and 10% increments at each subsequent treatment. After categorizing the clinical response to four groups (mild, moderate, good, and excellent), duration of disease and clinical response to NB-UVB were correlated statistically using the t-test. Results There were 63 patients: 34 women and 29 men, aged 6–60 years. The mean of disease duration was 10.13 ± 9.1 years. Vitiligo was ‘recent’ in 26 and ‘long standing’ in 37 patients. The mean of overall response was 51.94 ± 18.48%. Higher grades of response were more prevalent in patients with recent vitiligo than those with long-standing disease, and there was also statistically significant difference in overall response between these two groups of disease duration (P = 0.023). Conclusion The early treatment of generalized vitiligo may enhance the chance of successful repigmentation.

An efficient synthesis of Biginelli-type compounds using potassium phthalimide as a green, mild, and commercially available organocatalyst in a one-pot, multi-component cyclocondensation reaction of cyclopentanone, aldehydes, and urea/thiourea is reported. The present methodology is a green approach to access 4-aryl-7-(arylmethylene)-3,4,6,7-tetrahydro-1 H -cyclopenta[ d ]pyrimidin-2(5 H )-ones/thiones. It offers several merits such as simple operational procedures, no use of hazardous organic solvents, and cheap and environmentally friendly solid basic catalyst.