Alopecia areata (AA) is an organ-specific autoimmune disorder that targets anagen phase hair follicles. The course is unpredictable and current available treatments have variable efficacy. Nowadays, there is relatively little evidence on treatment of AA from well-designed clinical trials. Moreover, none of the treatments or devices commonly used to treat AA are specifically approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The italian Study Group for Cutaneous annexial disease of the italian Society of dermatology proposes these italian guidelines for diagnosis and

No abstract

No abstract

Background Psoriasis (Ps) is a chronic systemic autoimmune disease associated with pruritus in 64–98% of patients. However, few modestly sized studies assess factors associated with psoriatic pruritus. Objective To investigate factors associated with Ps pruritus intensity. Methods Psoriasis patients 18 years or older seen in one of 155 centres in Italy between September 2005 and 2009 were identified from the Italian PsoCare registry. Patients without cutaneous psoriasis and those with missed information on pruritus were excluded. Results We identified 10 802 patients, with a mean age 48.8 ± 14.3 years. Mild itch was present in 33.2% of patients, moderate in 34.4%, severe in 18.7% and very severe in 13.7%. Higher itch intensity was associated with female gender, lower educational attainment compared to university degree, pustular psoriasis, psoriasis on the head, face, palmoplantar areas, folds and genitalia, more severe disease, disease duration <15 years, and no or few prior systemic treatments. Limitations Effects of specific medication on itch were not assessed. Conclusions Pruritus should be evaluated during psoriasis visits, and physicians should be aware of patients at higher risk for itch. Further studies are needed to assess the effects of medications on itch, and establish therapy for psoriasis patients with persistent itch.

This review focuses on the emerging concepts concerning the efficacy profile of biological drugs in psoriasis ranging from moderate to severe, and attempts to provide the most recent individual positioning of biologics in treating psoriasis. Biologic agents targeting towards specific immune mediators have emerged as treatment options for patients with moderate to-severe plaque psoriasis unresponsive or intolerant to traditional systemic agents. Data on the safety of biologics are available for up to 5 years in psoriasis and are on the whole reassuring. National registries are still evolving and will provide data on safety, to help the long-term monitoring of patients with psoriasis ongoing biological treatment. Although several biologics have demonstrated good efficacy and tolerability in short-term trials, treatment guidelines recommend them as third line therapies due to relative lack of long-term safety data, especially for those who have been commercialized recently. Here, we have reviewed the long-term safety data obtained from National Registries, randomized controlled trials, open-label extension studies and meta-analyses on etanercept, infliximab, adalimumab, and ustekinumab in the treatment of adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.