Vitiligo although a cosmetic disease without any symptoms, it carry a significant social stigma especially in Indian society. Data interpretation in this study indicates that vitiligo affects QOL in majority of vitiligo patients and such patients require more aggressive and empathic attitude from a dermatologist to cure/improve this so called chronic cosmetic disease.

Bowens' disease (BD) is a precancerous condition of skin and/or mucosa with a predilection towards sun-exposed areas. Extensive literature research failed to reveal any case of multiple pigmented BD in type V Fitzpatrick skin. Multiple BD is a therapeutic challenge with a tendency to recur. Here we present an otherwise healthy Indian male having multiple pigmented lesions of BD on sun-protected sites of the body mimicking malignant melanoma. These lesions were refractory to treatment with different modalities. This paper is an attempt to review the available literature regarding the pigmented variant of multiple BD. Rationale for a therapeutic trial of UVB therapy for multiple arsenic induced BD is also discussed.

Background. Psoriasis is associated with a high impact on health-related QoL (quality of life). PUVAsol has been successfully used for treating psoriasis instead of standard PUVA therapy in developing countries. However, data for PUVAsol therapy and its effect on QoL in psoriatic patients is meagre. Objective. To investigate the effect of PUVAsol on the quality of life in patients having chronic plaque psoriasis. Materials and Methods. An observational prospective study done in patients having chronic plaque psoriasis. PASI and DLQI were calculated before initiating treatment with oral PUVAsol. These were compared with the respective scores after 12 weeks of regular treatment with PUVAsol. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 20.0. Results. Both PASI and DLQI showed statistically significant reduction after 12 weeks of regular treatment. 90% of patients responded favourably to PUVAsol therapy in the study and all the domains of DLQI showed significant reduction except domain of “work and school.” Conclusion. Our results show that regular PUVAsol treatment improves the physical appearance of disease as evident by decrease in PASI scores. It also improves the QoL of the patients. This study will add upon the growing evidence of efficacy of PUVAsol.

Introduction. Topical application of local anesthetics is currently considered to be the easiest, most effective, and convenient way for treatment of patients who may be undergoing superficial dermatosurgical procedures. Materials and Methods. This study compares the anesthetic potential of 2.5% lidocaine and 2.5% prilocaine topical cream with 7% lignocaine and 7% tetracaine combination cream for radio ablative dermatosurgery when applied, under occlusion, for 30 minutes. 40 subjects of achrocordons were enrolled in this split-side randomized trial. Result. The pain severity experienced by subjects in terms of visual analogue scale score was significantly lesser for lignocaine/tetracaine combination cream as compared to lidocaine/prilocaine combination. Conclusion. This small study proves the efficacy of lidocaine/tetracaine combination as a topical anesthetic cream when applied for a short time interval of 30 minutes. This will help a dermatosurgeon to perform various dermatological procedures in a better and efficient manner with a shorter waiting period for analgesia to set in.

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The combination of isotretinoin with PUVAsol is more effective compared with PUVAsol alone for treating chronic plaque psoriasis.

Background:The rampant, disturbing, and dismal unrestricted use of topical corticosteroids on face results in steroid-induced dermatitis termed topical steroid-dependent face (TSDF). It is an embarrassing and irritating condition for a patient. There is paucity of data from India regarding the effect of TSDF on the quality of life (QoL) of such patients.Aims:The aim of this study was to study the effect of TSDF on the QoL of patients with the help of a validated, easy-to-use, and reproducible dermatology life quality index (DLQI).Methods:A cross-sectional study was done among the outpatients seeking treatment for TSDF at a tertiary care hospital of a medical college. Patients were administered Hindi questionnaire version of DLQI. Controls were apparently healthy age- and sex-matched individuals.Results:DLQI scores revealed that TSDF had some effect on QoL in 98.11% of study patients. Study group had a mean DLQI score of 11.49. Statistically significant higher DLQI scores were recorded among females, patients aged <20 years and those who had no formal education/illiterate.Conclusions:TSDF affects QoL in majority of patients and it has a very large effect on the QoL in more than one-third of the patients.