Background During coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic, various adverse skin reactions to long‐term mask wearing have been reported. Objective We aimed to assess the clinical features of mask‐induced dermatoses and recommend prevention and treatment options. Methods From April to August 2020, questionnaires including preexisting skin disorders, patients’ reported mask‐related symptoms, their daily mask wearing duration and frequency, types of masks used, whether they are health care workers, and demographic information were distributed to patients of 12 hospitals. Dermatologists assessed skin lesions, confirmed diagnosis, and recorded treatment modalities. Results Itchiness was the most frequent symptom, mostly affecting the cheeks. Most common skin disease was new‐onset contact dermatitis (33.94%), followed by new‐onset acne (16.97%) and aggravation of preexisting acne (16.97%). Daily wearing ( p =0.018) was significantly associated with new‐onset contact dermatitis. More than half of the patients with preexisting skin problems experienced aggravation while wearing masks. Longer duration (more than 6 hours/day, p =0.043) and cotton masks ( p <0.001) significantly increased acne flare‐up. Healthcare workers had a higher incidence of skin disease. Skin lesions were generally mild and well tolerated with topical agents. Limitations Effect of seasonal characteristics and other risk factors were not assessed. The patients were visiting dermatologic clinics and had interest in their skin status. Thus, a selection bias may exist. Conclusion Mask‐induced/triggered dermatoses contribute to increase the dermatological burden during pandemic.

Background The Breslow depth is an important parameter to determine the excision margin and prognosis of melanoma. However, it is difficult to accurately determine the actual Breslow depth before surgery using the existing ocular micrometer and biopsy technique. Objectives To evaluate the use of 3D wide‐field multispectral photoacoustic imaging to non‐invasively measure depth and outline the boundary of melanomas for optimal surgical margin selection. Methods Six melanoma patients were examined in vivo using the 3D multispectral photoacoustic imaging system. For five cases of melanomas (one in situ, three nodular, and one acral lentiginous type melanoma), the spectrally unmixed photoacoustic depths were calculated and compared against histopathological depths. Results Spectrally unmixed photoacoustic depths and histopathological depths match well within a mean absolute error of 0.36 mm. In particular, the measured minimum and maximum depths in the in situ and nodular type of melanoma were 0.6 and 9.1 mm, respectively. In the 3D photoacoustic image of one metastatic melanoma, feeding vessels were visualized in the melanoma, suggesting the neovascularization around the tumour. Conclusions The 3D multispectral photoacoustic imaging not only provides well‐measured depth and sizes of various types of melanomas, it also visualizes the metastatic type of melanoma. Obtaining accurate depth and boundary information of melanoma before surgery would play a useful role in the complete excision of melanoma during surgery.

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This study investigated the prevalence of psoriasis and trends in prescription of medications for patients with psoriasis using the Korean National Health Insurance Claims Database from 2006 to 2015. The prevalence of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis per 10,000 people increased from 47.4 to 61.5 and from 0.04 to 0.23 respectively. The prescription of topical agents was a mean of 73.3%. For systemic agents, prescription of acitretin decreased from 74.8 to 44.5%, methotrexate showed a fluctuation, with a mean of 14.9% and cyclosporine increased from 9.0 to 41.2%. The prescription of biological agents increased sharply from 18 to 1,127 patients. Use of ustekinumab increased from 4.1 to 82.4%; use of infliximab decreased from 20.7 to 6.7% and etanercept decreased from 100 to 6.1%. This study showed an increasing trend in the prevalence of psoriasis. We also reported a rapid increase in the use of biologics in recent years.

Acrokeratosis verruciformis of Hopf is a rare genodermatosis with an autosomal dominant mode of inheritance. It is a disorder of keratinization, characterized by multiple, flat-topped, skin-colored keratotic lesions resembling plane warts typically observed on the dorsum of the hands and feet. Histopathologically, the lesion shows considerable hyperkeratosis, acanthosis, and papillomatosis, mimicking a "church spire", and a thickened granular layer. It arises in early life, often at birth or infancy. Herein, we report on a rare sporadic case of acrokeratosis verruciformis of Hopf. A 44-year-old Caucasian man presented with multiple, grouped, hyperkeratotic, whitish, flat papules on his shins and feet, which had been present for more than one year. Histopathological examination showed typical findings of acrokeratosis verruciformis of Hopf. Our case is unique in that the patient had no familial history of similar skin lesions.

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease known to be associated with a variety of systemic comorbidities, such as metabolic syndrome and obesity. Obesity represents a major comorbidity and has been suggested to be related to psoriasis. This nationwide population‐based prospective cohort study was performed to investigate the impacts of body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) on psoriasis. We used the health check‐up database and the study population consisted of subjects who had undergone health screening between January 2009 and December 2012. This study investigated patients newly diagnosed with psoriasis (International Classification of Disease, Tenth Revision, code L40) by dermatologists during the follow‐up period (5.32 years), based on claims data. The total population consisted of 22 633 536 subjects, among whom 399 461 had newly developed psoriasis. Subjects with BMI of more than 30 had a higher risk of psoriasis (hazards ratio [HR], 1.118; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.100–1.137) compared with the BMI 18.5–23 group. WC showed a dose‐dependent association with psoriatic risk. Subjects with WC over 105 cm showed the highest risk of psoriasis (HR, 1.305; 95% CI, 1.261–1.349) compared with subjects with WC lower than 80/75 after adjusting for confounding factors, including BMI. The risk of psoriasis was highest in males with normal BMI and abdominal obesity (HR, 1.175; 95% CI, 1.150–1.200). Our study indicates that WC is a specific factor affecting psoriatic risk and highlights the association between abdominal obesity and psoriasis, thus increasing awareness of the role of abdominal obesity in the pathogenesis and comorbidities of psoriasis.

The development of an in vitro three-dimensional (3D) culture system with cryopreserved biospecimens could accelerate experimental research screening anticancer drugs, potentially reducing costs and time bench-to-beside. However, minimal research has explored the application of 3D bioprinting-based in vitro cancer models to cryopreserved biospecimens derived from patients with advanced melanoma. We investigated whether 3D-printed collagen scaffolds enable the propagation and maintenance of patient-derived melanoma explants (PDMEs). 3D-printed collagen scaffolds were fabricated with a 3DX bioprinter. After thawing, fragments from cryopreserved PDMEs (approximately 1–2 mm) were seeded onto the 3D-printed collagen scaffolds, and incubated for 7 to 21 days. The survival rate was determined with MTT and live and dead assays. Western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry staining was used to express the function of cryopreserved PDMEs. The results show that 3D-printed collagen scaffolds could improve the maintenance and survival rate of cryopreserved PDME more than 2D culture. MITF, Mel A, and S100 are well-known melanoma biomarkers. In agreement with these observations, 3D-printed collagen scaffolds retained the expression of melanoma biomarkers in cryopreserved PDME for 21 days. Our findings provide insight into the application of 3D-printed collagen scaffolds for closely mimicking the 3D architecture of melanoma and its microenvironment using cryopreserved biospecimens.

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