Ayşe Esra Koku Aksu

Turkish version of Skindex-29

Background  There is a clear need for a useable measure of health‐related quality‐of‐life (HRQoL) for dermatology patients. Most of the existing dermatology‐specific measures were developed for the English language, and these measures should be adapted for use in other cultures.

Age and gender differences in Framingham risk score and metabolic syndrome in psoriasis patients: A cross-sectional study in the Turkish population.

Objective: Psoriasis is associated with an increased frequency of cardiovascular risk factors. Metabolic syndrome (MS) and the Framingham risk score (FRS) are two different algorithms for evaluating cardiovascular risk. They include different features: waist circumference measurement is included in the MS criteria, whereas smoking, age, and gender are questioned in FRS. This study aimed to evaluate the frequency of MS and FRS in psoriasis patients compared with a control group and investigate the differences between MS and FRS. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study involving 300 psoriasis patients and 177 controls. MS, FRS, and disease severity were evaluated. Results: The frequency of MS was higher in females with psoriasis than in those in the control group (p=0.019). Females in the psoriasis group were more obese than those in the control group (p=0.036). FRS significantly differed between the patients and controls of age >60 years (p=0.006). The risk of hypertension in current and past smokers was higher in the psoriasis patients (OR=2.07 and 2.32–2.48, respectively) than in the control group. There was no statistically significant relationship among MS, FRS, and psoriasis severity (p>0.05). Conclusion: The results of this study support the evaluation of cardiovascular risk assessment in female psoriasis patients with MS and in male and elderly psoriasis patients with FRS.

Darier's disease: Clinical and demographic features of nine cases

©Copyright 2018 by Turkish Society of Dermatology and Venereology Turkderm-Turkish Archives of Dermatology and Venereology published by Galenos Yayınevi. Address for Correspondence/Yazışma Adresi: Sevil Savaş MD, İstanbul Training and Research Hospital, Clinic of Dermatology, İstanbul, Turkey Phone: +90 554 261 68 54 E-mail: seaevil_87@hotmail.com Received/Geliş Tarihi: 22.01.2017 Accepted/Kabul Tarihi: 12.12.2017 ORCID ID: orcid.org/0000-0002-4392-4671 Turkderm-Turk Arch Dermatol Venereology 2018;52:51-5

Superficial acral fibromyxoma in the heel with new vascular features on dermoscopy

Superficial acral fibromyxoma (SAFM) is an uncommon mesenchymal soft tissue tumor with a predilection for the acral extremites and nail bed involvement. SAFM is diagnosed with clinicopathological and immunohistochemical examination. Awareness of this rare tumor is important because of amounts of benign and malignant neoplasms. We report a case of SAFM in a rare localization in the heel with a new finding on dermoscopy.

The efficacy and safety of phototherapy in geriatric patients: a retrospective study

BACKGROUND While phototherapy is a well-established treatment for many dermatoses, data from the literature regarding its use in elderly patients are quite limited. OBJECTIVE In this study, we aimed to determine the phototherapy indications in geriatric patients and to evaluate the effectiveness and reliability of phototherapy in this group. METHODS This study included 95 patients of 65 years of age and older who were treated in our phototherapy unit between 2006 and 2015. The data for this study were collected retrospectively from patient follow-up forms in the phototherapy unit. RESULTS Phototherapy was administered to 28 (29.5%) patients for mycosis fungoides, 25 (26.3%) patients foplaque type psoriasis, 12 (12.6%) patients for palmoplantar psoriasis, 12 (12.6%) patients for generalized pruritus, and 18 (19%) for other dermatoses. Of the patients, 64.2% had received a narrowband UVB (NB-UVB), 21.1% oral psoralen UVA (PUVA), and 14.7% local PUVA treatment. A complete response was achieved in 76.9-85.7% of the mycosis fungoides and in 73.71-100% of the psoriasis vulgaris patients treated with NB-UVB and PUVA, respectively. All the patients with generalized pruritus were treated with NB-UVB, and 80% of these patients achieved significant improvement. The erythema rate was found to be 0.43% per session for NB-UVB treatment and 0.46% per session for PUVA treatment as a side effect. STUDY LIMITATIONS The limitations of our study are that it was retrospective and the remission durations of the patients are not known. CONCLUSION This study showed that phototherapy is effective and reliable in the elderly population with proper dose increases and close follow-up.Background While phototherapy is a well-established treatment for many dermatoses, data from the literature regarding its use in elderly patients are quite limited. Objective In this study, we aimed to determine the phototherapy indications in geriatric patients and to evaluate the effectiveness and reliability of phototherapy in this group. Methods This study included 95 patients of 65 years of age and older who were treated in our phototherapy unit between 2006 and 2015. The data for this study were collected retrospectively from patient follow-up forms in the phototherapy unit. Results Phototherapy was administered to 28 (29.5%) patients for mycosis fungoides, 25 (26.3%) patients foplaque type psoriasis, 12 (12.6%) patients for palmoplantar psoriasis, 12 (12.6%) patients for generalized pruritus, and 18 (19%) for other dermatoses. Of the patients, 64.2% had received a narrowband UVB (NB-UVB), 21.1% oral psoralen UVA (PUVA), and 14.7% local PUVA treatment. A complete response was achieved in 76.9-85.7% of the mycosis fungoides and in 73.71-100% of the psoriasis vulgaris patients treated with NB-UVB and PUVA, respectively. All the patients with generalized pruritus were treated with NB-UVB, and 80% of these patients achieved significant improvement. The erythema rate was found to be 0.43% per session for NB-UVB treatment and 0.46% per session for PUVA treatment as a side effect. Study limitations The limitations of our study are that it was retrospective and the remission durations of the patients are not known. Conclusion This study showed that phototherapy is effective and reliable in the elderly population with proper dose increases and close follow-up.