Interleukin 17-antagonist secukinumab demonstrated high efficacy for treatment of psoriasis in randomized controlled trials. However, performance in daily practice may differ from trials. Drug survival is a comprehensive outcome covering effectiveness and safety, suitable for analyses of daily practice. The aim of this study was to evaluate drug survival of secukinumab in a daily practice psoriasis cohort. Data were collected from 13 hospitals. Drug survival was analysed using Kaplan-Meier survival curves, split for reason of discontinuation. In total, 196 patients were included (83% biologic experienced). Overall, 12 and 18 months drug survival of secukinumab was 76% and 67%, respectively, and was mostly determined by ineffectiveness. There was a trend towards shorter drug survival in women and in biologic experienced patients. Thirteen percent of patients experienced at least one episode of fungal infection. This is one of the first studies of drug survival of secukinumab in patients with psoriasis treated in daily practice.

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Skin problems are common within the nursing home population and could have a significant impact on quality of life. As a form of long-distance consultation teledermatology offers several potential benefits within this frail population. In this review we discuss several aspects of teledermatology, especially in relation to the nursing home population. Several studies demonstrated that teledermatology is a cost-effective and easy-to-use consultation method, which could significantly reduce the amount of hospital visits. However, teledermatology is only used in a limited number of Dutch nursing homes in daily practice due to several factors. For the optimal implementation of teledermatological consultation there are some important logistical, legal and financial framework conditions. In conclusion, teledermatology has a lot to offer within the nursing home population and therefore teledermatology will hopefully be increasingly used in daily practice within the near future.

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