Pseudotumor cerebri in a child treated with acitretin: a rare occurrence

Ichthyosis: presentation and management

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

This review focuses on the presentation and management of ichthyoses and highlights recent advances in treatment that hold promise for better targeted therapy.

RECENT FINDINGS

The ichthyoses are a group of rare genetic diseases with a wide phenotypic spectrum, characterized most often by generalized hyperkeratosis and scaling with variable erythema. The highly visible scaling and frequent itch contribute to decreased quality of life. Management for ichthyosis focuses on symptomatic relief and scale reduction with emollients, keratolytics, and retinoids. Recent advances in immune profiling and genotype-phenotype mapping have increased understanding of ichthyosis and shifted focus to pathogenesis-based targeted therapies with emerging biologics, small molecular inhibitors, and gene therapy.

SUMMARY

This article discusses clinical assessment and genotyping to make the diagnosis of specific forms of ichthyosis, provides guidance for management, and reviews new treatment options with systemic agents.

Efficacy and safety of clozapine in psychotic disorders-a systematic quantitative meta-review

A recent increase in the literature regarding the evidence base for clozapine has made it increasingly difficult for clinicians to judge "best evidence" for clozapine use. As such, we aimed at elucidating the state-of-the-art for clozapine with regard to efficacy, effectiveness, tolerability, and management of clozapine and clozapine-related adverse events in neuropsychiatric disorders. We conducted a systematic PRISMA-conforming quantitative meta-review of available meta-analytic evidence regarding clozapine use. Primary outcome effect sizes were extracted and transformed into relative risk ratios (RR) and standardized mean differences (SMD). The methodological quality of meta-analyses was assessed using the AMSTAR-2 checklist. Of the 112 meta-analyses included in our review, 61 (54.5%) had an overall high methodological quality according to AMSTAR-2. Clozapine appears to have superior effects on positive, negative, and overall symptoms and relapse rates in schizophrenia (treatment-resistant and non-treatment-resistant subpopulations) compared to first-generation antipsychotics (FGAs) and to pooled FGAs/second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) in treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS). Despite an unfavorable metabolic and hematological adverse-event profile compared to other antipsychotics, hospitalization, mortality and all-cause discontinuation (ACD) rates of clozapine surprisingly show a pattern of superiority. Our meta-review outlines the superior overall efficacy of clozapine compared to FGAs and most other SGAs in schizophrenia and suggests beneficial efficacy outcomes in bipolar disorder and Parkinson's disease psychosis (PDP). More clinical studies and subsequent meta-analyses are needed beyond the application of clozapine in schizophrenia-spectrum disorders and future studies should be directed into multidimensional clozapine side-effect management to foster evidence and to inform future guidelines.

Treatment of severe psoriasis in children: recommendations of an Italian expert group

This article provides comprehensive recommendations for the systemic treatment of severe pediatric psoriasis based on evidence obtained from a systematic review of the literature and the consensus opinion of expert dermatologists and pediatricians. For each systemic treatment, the grade of recommendation (A, B, C) based on the treatment's approval by the European Medicines Agency for childhood psoriasis and the experts' opinions is discussed. The grade of recommendation for narrow-band-ultraviolet B phototherapy, cyclosporine, and retinoids is C, while that for methotrexate is C/B. The use of adalimumab, etanercept, and ustekinumab has a grade A recommendation. No conventional systemic treatments are approved for pediatric psoriasis. Adalimumab is approved by the European Medicines Agency as a first-line treatment for severe chronic plaque psoriasis in children (≥ 4 years old) and adolescents. Etanercept and ustekinumab are approved as second-line therapy in children ≥ 6 and ≥ 12 years, respectively.

CONCLUSION

A treatment algorithm as well as practical tools (i.e., tabular summaries of differential diagnoses, treatment mechanism of actions, dosing regimens, control parameters) are provided to assist in therapeutic reasoning and decision-making for individual patients. These treatment recommendations are endorsed by major Italian Pediatric and Dermatology Societies. What is Known: • Guidelines for the treatment of severe pediatric psoriasis are lacking and most traditional systemic treatments are not approved for use in young patients. Although there has been decades of experience with some of the traditional agents such as phototherapy, acitretin, and cyclosporine in children, there are no RCTs on their pediatric use while RCTs investigating new biologic agents have been performed. What is New: • In this manuscript, an Italian multidisciplinary team of experts focused on treatment recommendations for severe forms of psoriasis in children based on an up-to-date review of the literature and experts' opinions.

Neurological and Neuropsychiatric Adverse Effects of Dermatologic Medications

Severe, recalcitrant dermatologic conditions often require systemic treatment. Although efficacious, these medications have been associated with wide-ranging adverse reactions. Some are reversible, predictable, and either dose-dependent or treatment length-dependent, while others are unpredictable, irreversible, and potentially fatal. This review examines the neuropsychiatric adverse effects associated with US FDA-approved medications for treatment of the following dermatologic pathologies that typically require systemic therapy: autoimmune dermatoses, acne, psoriasis, and melanoma. A search of the literature was performed, with adverse effects ranging from mild headaches and neuropathy to severe encephalopathies. The medications associated with the most serious reactions were those used to treat psoriasis, especially the older non-biologic medications such as cyclosporine A and methotrexate. Given the importance of these systemic dermatologic therapies in treating severe, recalcitrant conditions, and the wide variety of potentially serious neuropsychiatric adverse effects of these medications, neurologists, psychiatrists, dermatologists, oncologists, and primary care providers must be aware of the potential for these neuropsychiatric adverse reactions to allow for appropriate counseling, management, and medication withdrawal.

A Retrospective Investigation of Clozapine Treatment in Autistic and Nonautistic Children and Adolescents in an Inpatient Clinic in Turkey

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this retrospective study is to examine the clinical outcomes and safety of clozapine in children and adolescents with schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders/autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or affective disorders.

METHODS

The inpatient and outpatient files of all children and adolescents treated with clozapine over a period of 34 months (from October 2011 to July 2014) were reviewed. Demographic and clinical data were examined to describe clinical and metabolic findings, dosing, and tolerability of clozapine treatment in youth with schizophrenia, other psychotic disorders, ASD, or bipolar disorder.

RESULTS

The 37 pediatric patients included 26 patients with schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders, 7 patients with ASD complicated by schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders or affective disorders, and 4 patients with ASD only. In all groups (n = 37) there was a significant reduction (p < 0.001) in Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) points after clozapine treatment during the inpatient period (38.78 ± 27.75 days). In patients with schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders co-occurring with ASD or not (n = 31), there was a significant improvement in psychotic symptoms according to Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) total scores and subscores (p < 0.001). Of the 26 patients with schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders, 8 (30.8%) showed a positive response (>30% symptom reduction on BPRS). In patients with ASD complicated by schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders or bipolar disorders (n = 7), there was a significant reduction (p = 0.017) in BPRS scores after clozapine treatment. The discontinuation rate for clozapine was 10.8%, and the most frequently observed side effect was hypersalivation (54.1%). Neutropenia associated with clozapine was observed in only one patient (2.7%).

CONCLUSIONS

Clozapine seems to be effective and safe in children and adolescents with schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders co-occuring with ASD or not. There is a need for further studies for determining the efficacy of clozapine in children and adolescents with bipolar affective disorder or ASD.

Psoriasis in Children and Adolescents: Diagnosis, Management and Comorbidities

Psoriasis is a common chronic immune-mediated inflammatory skin disorder and begins in childhood in almost one-third of the cases. Although children present with the same clinical subtypes of psoriasis seen in adults, lesions may differ in distribution and morphology, and their clinical symptoms at presentation may vary from those reported by adult patients. Nevertheless, diagnosis of psoriasis is primarily based on clinical features. Pediatric psoriasis can have a profound long-term impact on the psychological health of affected children. Additionally, pediatric psoriasis has been associated with certain comorbidities, such as obesity, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus and rheumatoid arthritis, making early diagnosis and management essential. As guidelines are lacking and most (systemic) treatments are not approved for use in children, treatment of pediatric psoriasis remains a challenge. A prospective, multicenter, international registry is needed to evaluate these treatments in a standardized manner and ultimately to develop international guidelines on pediatric psoriasis. This article reviews current concepts in pediatric psoriasis including epidemiology, clinical features, diagnosis, the role of topical and systemic agents and the association with other morbidities in childhood.