Management of tinea capitis in childhood

Tinea capitis (TC) is a common dermatophyte infection affecting primarily prepubertal children. The causative pathogens belong to only two genera: Trichophyton and Microsporum. Although there is a great local variation in the epidemiology of TC worldwide, T. tonsurans is currently the most common cause of TC with M. canis second. Even though there is an emerging number of anthropophilic scalp infections, M. canis remains the predominant causative organism in many countries of the Mediterranean basin, the most important dermatophyte carriers being stray cats and dogs as well as pet puppies, kittens and rabbits. TC always requires systemic treatment because topical antifungal agents do not penetrate down to the deepest part of the hair follicle. Since the late 1950s, griseofulvin has been the gold standard for systemic therapy of TC. It is active against dermatophytes and has a long-term safety profile. The main disadvantage of griseofulvin is the long duration of treatment required which may lead to reduced compliance. The newer oral antifungal agents including terbinafine, itraconazole, ketokonazole, and fluconazole appear to have efficacy rates and potential adverse effects similar to those of griseofulvin in children with TC caused by Trichophyton species, while requiring a much shorter duration of treatment. They may, however, be more expensive

In Vivo and Ex Vivo Confocal Microscopy for Dermatologic and Mohs Surgeons

Confocal microscopy is a modern imaging device that has been extensively applied in skin oncology. More specifically, for tumor margin assessment, it has been used in two modalities: reflectance mode (in vivo on skin patient) and fluorescence mode (on freshly excised specimen). Although in vivo reflectance confocal microscopy is an add-on tool for lentigo maligna mapping, fluorescence confocal microscopy is far superior for basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma margin assessment in the Mohs setting. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the use of confocal microscopy for skin cancer margin evaluation

An international 3-center training and reading study to assess basal cell carcinoma surgical margins with ex-vivo fluorescence confocal microscopy

Novel solutions are needed for expediting margin assessment to guide BCC surgeries. Ex-vivo fluorescence confocal microscopy (FCM) is starting to be used in freshly-excised surgical specimens to examine BCC margins in real-time. Training and educational process are needed for this novel technology to be implemented into clinic

El Proyeto de Investigación de Actitudes Relacionadas con la Ciencia, la Tecnología y la Sociedad (PIEARCTS): una acción cooperativa iberoamericana

Se presenta un proyecto de evaluación ccoperativa internacional de temas CTS entre investigadores de diversos países iberoamericanos, basado en un instrumento y unos métodos de evaluación previa. El trabajo práctico se centra en el conocimiento de la metodología del PIEARCTS, que puede ser útil y aplicable a otras investigaciones CTS. Esto comprende una profundizacíon en la metodología del proyeto las muestras planificadas, los instrumentos aplicados (modelo de respuesta múltiple y clasificación en categorias) y los procedimientos de cuantificacíon a través de una métrica que genera índices actitudinales invariantes