Background. Assessment methods for atopic dermatitis (AD) are not standardized, and therapeutic studies are difficult to interpret. Aims. To obtain a consensus on assessment methods in AD and to use a statistical method to develop a composite severity index.Methods. Consensus definitions were given for items used in the scoring system (extent, intensity, subjective) and illustrated for intensity items. Slides were reviewed to address within and between-observer variability by a group of 10 trained clinicians, and data were statistically evaluated with a two way analysis of variance. Two variants of an assessment system were compared in 88 patients at 5 different institutions. Data were analyzed using principal-component analysis. Results. For 5 intensity items studied (erythema, edema/papulation, oozing/crusts, excoriations, lichenification), within- and between-observer variability was good overall, except for edema/papulation which was difficult to assess with slides. In the series of 88 patients, principal-component analysis allowed to extract two unrelated components: the first one accounting for 33% of total variance was interpreted as a ‘severity’ component; the second one, accounting for 18% of variance, was interpreted as a ‘profile’ component distinguishing patients with mostly erythema and subjective symptoms and those with mostly lichenification and dryness and lower subjective symptoms. Of the two evaluation systems used, the one using the rule of nine to assess extent was found more workable than the one using a distribution × intensity product. A scoring index (SCORAD) combining extent, severity and subjective symptoms was mathematically derived from the first system and showed a normal distribution of the population studied. Conclusion. The final choice for the evaluation system was mostly made based on simplicity and easy routine use in outpatient clinics. Based on mathematical appreciation of weights of the items used in the assessment of AD, extent and subjective symptoms account for around 20% each of the total score, intensity items representing 60%. The so-designed composite index SCORAD needs to be further tested in clinical trials.

Background— Vorapaxar is a novel antagonist of protease-activated receptor-1, the primary receptor for thrombin on human platelets that is also present on vascular endothelium and smooth muscle. Patients with peripheral artery disease are at risk of systemic atherothrombotic events, as well as acute and chronic limb ischemia and the need for peripheral revascularization. Methods and Results— The Trial to Assess the Effects of SCH 530348 in Preventing Heart Attack and Stroke in Patients With Atherosclerosis (TRA2°P-TIMI 50) was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of vorapaxar in 26 449 patients with stable atherosclerotic vascular disease (myocardial infarction, stroke, or peripheral artery disease). Patients with qualifying peripheral artery disease (n=3787) had a history of claudication and an ankle-brachial index of <0.85 or prior revascularization for limb ischemia. The primary efficacy end point was cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke, and the principal safety end point was Global Utilization of Streptokinase and t-PA for Occluded Coronary Arteries (GUSTO) bleeding. In the peripheral artery disease cohort, the primary end point did not differ significantly with vorapaxar (11.3% versus 11.9%; hazard ratio, 0.94; 95% confidence interval, 0.78–1.14; P =0.53). However, rates of hospitalization for acute limb ischemia (2.3% versus 3.9%; hazard ratio, 0.58; 95% confidence interval, 0.39–0.86; P =0.006) and peripheral artery revascularization (18.4% versus 22.2%; hazard ratio, 0.84; 95% confidence interval, 0.73–0.97; P =0.017) were significantly lower in patients randomized to vorapaxar. Bleeding occurred more frequently with vorapaxar compared with placebo (7.4% versus 4.5%; hazard ratio, 1.62; 95% confidence interval, 1.21–2.18; P =0.001). Conclusions— Vorapaxar did not reduce the risk of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke in patients with peripheral artery disease; however, vorapaxar significantly reduced acute limb ischemia and peripheral revascularization. The beneficial effects of protease-activated receptor-1 antagonism on limb vascular events were accompanied by an increased risk of bleeding. Clinical Trial Registration— URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov . Unique identifier: NCT00526474.

Coagulation and fibrinolysis were studied in patients with acute myocardial infarction during intravenous infusion of recombinant human tissue-type plasminogen activator (rt-PA) (0.75 mg/kg over 90 min, n = 101), streptokinase (1,500,000 IU over 60 min, n = 61), or placebo (n = 40). In the rt-PA group, the plasma level of rt-PA antigen was 1.2 + 0.6 gig/ml (mean + SD) and the euglobulin fibrinolytic activity (EFA) was 910 735 IU t-PA/ml. In the streptokinase group, the EFA was equivalent to 430 + 435 IU t-PA/ml. At the end of the infusion, the plasma fibrinogen level measured with a coagulation rate assay was decreased to 57 ± 33% of the preinfusion value in the rt-PA group, to 7 + 10% in the streptokinase group, and remained unchanged in the placebo group. Fibrinogen-fibrin degradation products increased to 0.75 + 0.54 mg/ml in the streptokinase group but to only 0.10 ± 0.13 mg/ml in the rt-PA group. The plasma levels of a2-antiplasmin, plasminogen, and factor V decreased to between 30% and 45% in the rt-PA group but significantly more in the streptokinase group (to between 15% and 25%). Thus rt-PA induced much less systemic fibrinolytic activation than streptokinase. In the patients who received rt-PA, a weak correlation (r = .21, n = 89, .1 > p > .05) was found between the extent of fibrinogen breakdown at 90 min and the plasma rt-PA concentration. Fibrinogen breakdown was significantly higher (p < .05) in patients with successful recanalization (decrease to 52 + 32%, n = 61) than in unresponsive patients (decrease to 69 ± 35%, n = 22). The plasma rt-PA concentration in patients with successful recanalization was 1.4 ± 0.7 gg/ml, and that in unresponsive patients was 1. 1 ± 0.7 gg/ml (p > . 1).Circulation 73, No. 3, 511-517, 1986. HUMAN tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) has been shown to induce thrombolysis in the absence of systemic fibrinolytic activation in several animal prep