Rituximab is a beneficial and relatively safe adjuvant treatment for PV that facilitates prolonged clinical remission and has a significant steroid-sparing effect.

Objective: The aim of this study is to determine chronologically the occurrence of clinical forms and individual lesions of psoriasis patients. Methods: A total of 100 patients (mean age 42.07±16.12 years) were included in this retrospective cohort study. Individual lesions and changes in clinic forms recorded chronologically. The patients were also assessed for accompanying comorbidities during the course of disease. Results: Skin manifestations were the most frequent observed onset area of the disease (95%) and the most common clinical morphology at the onset of the disease was psoriasis vulgaris (92%). Scalp (19%) was the most frequent onset area of the disease. Clinical morphologic changes were detected in 26 patients during the course of the disease. The most common clinical morphological change was guttate psoriasis (n=17). In survival analysis, average time between the appearance of the first symptom and skin involvement, nail involvement, and articular involvement was calculated as 0.23±0.106, 5.89±1.07 and 2.25±1.10 (mean ± standard error) years, respectively. During the average 11-year disease course, twofold increase observed in accompanying diseases. Conclusion: Our study shows that psoriasis starts with the skin involvement, nail and joint involvement develop later. Psoriasis vulgaris is the most frequently observed clinical morphology; scalp is the most commonly affected skin area at the onset of the disease. Over time, the number of comorbidities accompanying psoriasis increases.

Amaç: Ülkemizde saç hastalıkları başvurularına ait tanımlayıcı veriler oldukça azdır. Bu çalışmada, mezuniyet öncesi ve sonrası eğitim programlarının oluşturulmasına katkı sağlayacağı düşüncesiyle, bölgemizde gözlenen saç hastalıkları hakkında bilgi sahibi olmak, ünitemize başvuran hastaların özelliklerini tanımlamak ve saç hastalıklarında tanısal yaklaşıma katkı sağlayabilecek verileri belirlemek amaçlanmıştır. Yöntemler: Tanımlayıcı epidemiyolojik çalışmamızda, üniversitemiz Saç Hastalıkları Ünitesi'ne Mayıs 2011-Mayıs 2014 tarihleri arasında başvuran, ardışık 1,617 yeni hastanın verileri geriye dönük olarak değerlendirildi. Bulgular: Genel poliklinik başvuruları arasında saç hastalıkları %7 oranında saptandı. Hastaların yaş ortalaması 32,28±15,45 yaş (0-84 yaş) olup kadın/erkek oranı 2,26 olarak bulundu. Yakınmaların %60 hastada kronik persistan seyir gösterdiği ve hastaların %69,1'inin başvuru anında yakınma sürelerinin yıllarla ifade edildiği saptandı. En sık, androgenetik alopesi (AGA), telojen effluvium ve alopesi areata tanıları konmuştu (sırasıyla; %45,8, %39,4, %17,8). Tanı amacıyla 339 hastada (%20,9) trikoskopi yapılmış ve bunların %85'inde saptanan bulgular tanıya yardımcı olmuştu. Sonuç: Bölgemizde saç sorunları nedeniyle başvuru oranı genel poliklinik sayısı içinde önemli bir miktardadır. AGA, telojen effluvium ve alopesi areatanın iyi tanınması ve muayenede trikoskopi gibi yardımcı yöntemlerin kullanılabilmesi saç hastalıkları alanında başarıyı arttıracaktır. Objective: There are few epidemiological descriptive data on the prevalence of hair diseases in our country. In this study, we aimed to have information about the hair diseases observed in our region, to describe the characteristics of patients admitted to our unit and to supply data for the diagnostic approach which will contribute to developing undergraduate and postgraduate training programs. Methods: In this descriptive epidemiologic study, data of 1.617 consecutive new patients admitted to our University Hair Diseases Unit between May 2011 and May 2014 were analyzed retrospectively. Results: Hair diseases were observed in 7% of the patients who applied to the dermatology outpatient clinic. The mean age of patients was 32.28±15.45 years (0-84 years, range) and female/male ratio was 2.26. Complaints were as chronic persistence in 60% of the patients and 69.1% of the patients described their period of complaint in terms of years at the time of admission. The most frequent hair disorders were androgenetic alopecia (AGA) (45.8%), telogen effluvium (39.4%) and alopecia areata (17.8%). Trichoscopic examination was used in 339 patients (20.9%) and characteristic trichoscopic features contributed to the diagnosis in 85% of them. Conclusion: In our region, admissions due to hair problems have an important ratio among general outpatient clinic visits. For the physicians, being better informed about AGA, telogen effluvium and alopecia areata and being able to perform trichoscopy as the diagnostic modality will increase the success in the diagnosis ...

Background and Design: Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) is a severe, chronic, potentially life-threatening autoimmune blistering disease that affects the skin and mucous membranes, associated with the loss of cell-cell adhesion and blister formation. Systemic steroids in combination with immunosuppressive agents are the mainstay of therapy in pemphigus. Rituximab, a chimeric monoclonal anti-CD20 antibody, has been tried increasingly for the treatment of PV. Materials and Methods: We sought to test the efficacy and safety of rituximab as an adjuvant therapy by retrospective analysis of clinical and immunological data of patients. We performed a retrospective analysis of 13 patients with refractory pemphigus vulgaris who were treated with rituximab at Akdeniz University Hospital, Clinic of Dermatology and Venereology, Bullous Disease Unit. We evaluated clinical and immunological data with last treatments. Results: The patients were treated with one cycle of two biweekly infusions of rituximab at a dose of 1000 mg on days 1 and 15, except one received four doses of 375 mg/m 2 weekly. The mean follow-up time was 18.5 months. All patients had a decrease in antibody titers