With the ongoing organ shortage for transplantation, Singapore has adopted an organ opt-out scheme: Human Organ Transplant Act (HOTA) that presumes consent unless specified otherwise. Likewise, receptivity of doctors and medical students (MS), as future doctors, can positively influence organ donation (OD) rates. We explored the knowledge and attitudes of MS toward OD. MS from all five yr of medical school were recruited using self-administered questionnaires. There were 294 completed questionnaires with 49.3% males and 45.6% pre-clinical students. The MS were generally knowledgeable about organ transplantation, but deficient in the knowledge of some aspects of HOTA. The majority of the MS were receptive toward OD. Traditional values rather than religion were possible barriers toward OD. 50.7% of the MS were concerned that donated organs may be inappropriately used, while 32% had concerns that doctors would prematurely terminate treatment if the patient is a potential organ donor. Fewer clinical students shared such concerns, compared with the pre-clinical students. The MS have a good understanding of basic tenets of OD and are receptive toward OD. Potential barriers for OD advocation are local traditional values and reservations regarding the appropriate use of harvested organs and provision of appropriate care to donor patients. These concerns are areas to address.

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Cutaneous plasmacytosis (CP) is an uncommon chronic disease of unknown aetiology, reported mainly in middle-aged patients of Asian descent. It is diagnosed by a constellation of physical, laboratory, radiological and histopathological findings. We report a patient with CP who demonstrated a favorable and promising response to mask-bath PUVA.

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Alopecia areata (AA) is a common cause of nonscarring hair loss. Diphenylcyclopropenone (DPCP) is a form of contact immunotherapy used in the treatment of AA. We retrospectively reviewed all patients who were diagnosed with AA over a 4-year period (1st January 2012 to 31st December 2015) and who have received DPCP. Forty patients were studied in total. The mean duration of disease prior to the study was 195 days. Patients received a mean number of 14.91 sessions (range: 1-65). The mean number of sessions required before clinical response was seen was 2.33 sessions, corresponding to 0.001% DPCP. Based on the modified Global Assessment Grading System, 33.5% (n = 11) of the patients experienced less than 25% improvement, 48.5% (n = 16) experienced 25%-74% improvement and 18.3% (n = 6) experienced more than 75% improvement. One patient had severe sensitisation reaction amounting to near erythroderma which resolved completely upon cessation of DPCP therapy. No other adverse reactions were noted in the cohort. DPCP remains a valuable tool in a dermatologist's armamentarium in treating alopecia areata as it is safe, well-tolerated, and shows limited efficacy.