Plexus 2009

Sponsors: School of Medicine Dean’s Office, Office of Educational Affairs, Office of AdmissionsThe PLEXUS staff wishes to recognize the hard work and support of the following: Ellena Peterson, PhD; Johanna Shapiro, PhD; Dale Fakuda from Printing Division Inc.Last Year’s Editors: Rod Mortazavi, Neera SodhiCo-editors in Chief: Charitha Reddy, Maheen HassanManaging Editor: Mohammad ShaikhSenior EditorsAudio: Joe TreisterHospital Beautification: Christina UmberCreative Writing: Jennifer Aloo, Mohammad ShaikhLayout & Design: Maheen HassanMarketing & Outreach: Madhukar PatelVisual Arts: Charitha ReddyAssociate EditorsAudio: Matthew FradkinCreative Writing: Nupoor NarulaLayout & Design: Chase WarrenMarketing & Outreach: Phillip NgaiVisual Arts: Phillip NgaiSelection Editor: Justin TilanStaff: Clifford Lau, Alexander Lin, Kirellos Zamary, Virginia LiuFaculty Advisor: Johanna Shapiro, PhDUCI School of Medicine (c) 2009 PLEXUSPublished works were contributed by UCI School of Medicine students, physicians, faculty, alumni, and patients

Report from the third international consensus meeting to harmonise core outcome measures for atopic eczema/dermatitis clinical trials (HOME)

This report provides a summary of the third meeting of the Harmonising Outcome Measures for Eczema (HOME) initiative held in San Diego, CA, U.S.A., 6-7 April 2013 (HOME III). The meeting addressed the four domains that had previously been agreed should be measured in every eczema clinical trial: clinical signs, patient-reported symptoms, long-term control and quality of life. Formal presentations and nominal group techniques were used at this working meeting, attended by 56 voting participants (31 of whom were dermatologists). Significant progress was made on the domain of clinical signs. Without reference to any named scales, it was agreed that the intensity and extent of erythema, excoriation, oedema/papulation and lichenification should be included in the core outcome measure for the scale to have content validity. The group then discussed a systematic review of all scales measuring the clinical signs of eczema and their measurement properties, followed by a consensus vote on which scale to recommend for inclusion in the core outcome set. Research into the remaining three domains was presented, followed by discussions. The symptoms group and quality of life groups need to systematically identify all available tools and rate the quality of the tools. A definition of long-term control is needed before progress can be made towards recommending a core outcome measur