Background
Vitiligo is a muco-cutaneous, autoimmune, localized, or disseminated disease, which manifests through hypochromic or achromic macules, with loss in quality of life. The prevalence of vitiligo in Brazil was determined to be 0.54%. There is no on-label medication for its treatment. To date, no Brazilian consensus on the treatment of vitiligo had been written.
Objectives
The objective of this group of Brazilian dermatologists with experience in the treatment of this disease was to reach a consensus on the clinical and surgical treatment of vitiligo, based on articles with the best scientific evidence.
Methods
Seven dermatologists were invited, and each was assigned two treatment modalities to review. Each treatment (topical, systemic, and phototherapy) was reviewed by three experts. Two experts reviewed the surgical treatment. Subsequently, the coordinator compiled the different versions and drafted a text about each type of treatment. The new version was returned to all experts, who expressed their opinions and made suggestions for clarity. The final text was written by the coordinator and sent to all participants to prepare the final consensus.
Results/Conclusion
The experts defined the following as standard treatments of vitiligo: the use of topical corticosteroids and calcineurin inhibitors for localized and unstable cases; corticosteroid minipulse in progressive generalized vitiligo; narrowband UVB phototherapy for extensive forms of the disease. Surgical modalities should be indicated for segmental and stable generalized vitiligo. Topical and systemic anti-JAK drugs are being tested, with promising results.
How to cite this article: Melo DF, Ramos PM, Antelo DA, Machado CJ, Barcaui CB. Is there a rationale for the use of botulinum toxin in the treatment of Androgenetic Alopecia?.
Introduction: Brazil has presented alarming and growing data on infection and deaths from SARS-CoV-2. There are more than 4 500 000 confirmed cases and more than 137 000 deaths ranking second in the world ranking of infected people. In addition to the involvement of the respiratory, cardiovascular, renal and neurological systems, this virus also causes non-specific skin lesions in same patients. Little is known about the pathophysiology of cutaneous involvement. At this moment, we cannot predict a difference in prognosis based on skin lesions.
Methods: We conducted an observational case study of 25 patients affected by SARS-CoV-2 who had dermatological lesions. We described the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of each case, demonstrating the polymorphism of the skin lesions and also making a correlation with the chronology of presented systemic symptoms.
Results: Twenty five cases of COVID-19 with cutaneous manifestations (urticaria, erythematous rash, maculopapular eruption, pruritus, erythema multiforme-like lesions, dyshidrotic eczema) were observed during, after and before systemic symptoms. A few cases with skin involvement were also observed as isolated symptoms of the viral infection. These data demonstrate the clinical polymorphism related to skin involvement of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2, emphasizing the importance of clinical suspicion by dermatologists when handling suspected cases in the current epidemiological scenario.
Conclusion: Although the number of cases in the world stage seems to be regressing, infection by SARS-CoV-2 will be part of the dermatologist's daily routine. As long as we do not have a widely available vaccine and the pandemic takes on an endemic profile, we need to be aware of these manifestations, not only for the proper diagnosis, indication of patient isolation, as well as all the necessary biosafety procedures in dermatology clinics.
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