Anita Takwale

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust · department of dermatology

Background Lack of validated and responsive outcome measures in the management of Frontal Fibrosing Alopecia (FFA) significantly limits our ability to assess disease progression and treatment response over time. Objectives The aim of this study was to understand how FFA extent and progression is currently assessed in UK specialist centres, validat...

Nail involvement is estimated to affect 80–90% of patients with psoriasis at some point in their lives and is often associated with severe disease. Patients with nail involvement experience pain, functional impairment and social stigma, with significant restriction of daily activities and quality of life. Nail psoriasis is also considered a risk fa...

Frontal fibrosing alopecia (FFA) is an inflammatory primary scarring alopecia of uncertain aetiology that represents a variant of lichen planopilaris.1 It predominantly, although not exclusively, affects post‐menopausal women.2 Its pathogenesis is characterised by immune‐mediated follicular destruction at the level of the hair bulge, which leads to...

Frontal fibrosing alopecia (FFA) is a recently described inflammatory and scarring type of hair loss affecting almost exclusively women. Despite a dramatic recent increase in incidence the aetiopathogenesis of FFA remains unknown. We undertake genome-wide association studies in females from a UK cohort, comprising 844 cases and 3,760 controls, a Sp...

Onychomycosis is a fungal nail infection caused by dermatophytes, nondermatophyte molds, and yeasts. This difficult‐to‐treat chronic infection has a tendency to relapse despite treatment. This paper aims to offer a global perspective on onychomycosis management from expert physicians from around the world. Overall, the majority of experts surveyed...

Frontal fibrosing alopecia (FFA) was first described by Kossard in 1994 in 6 postmenopausal women.(1) FFA remained rare during the 1990s but in the last 10-15 years it has become increasingly common, a phenomenon observed worldwide. The recent onset and apparent rising incidence of FFA suggest involvement of an environmental factor(s) in the aetiol...

Nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) is the most common malignancy in the western world, with an incidence of 98 000 in the U.K. Since 2009 the Department of Health (DoH) has collected patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) data following four common surgical procedures. However, a DoH PROM for NMSC does not exist. A systematic review of questionnaires...

To study the efficacy and tolerability of borage oil, which contains a high concentration of gamma linolenic acid, in children and adults with atopic eczema. Single centre, randomised, double blind, placebo controlled, parallel group trial. Acute district general hospital in Nuneaton, England. 151 patients, of whom 11 failed to return for assessmen...

Imiquimod 5% cream has been investigated for non-surgical treatment of superficial and nodular basal cell carcinoma (BCC) tumours. Two studies were conducted to examine the effect of occlusion at low dosing frequencies on the safety and efficacy of topical imiquimod 5% cream for the treatment of superficial and nodular BCC. Both open-label studies...

Essential or fragrant oils are volatile odourous mixtures of organic chemical compounds that are widely used in aromatherapy and in the perfume industry. Because of their frequent use, allergy to essential oils is being increasingly recognized. We report 2 cases of multiple allergies to essential oils in professional aromatherapists. Gas chromatogr...

There is a limited range of treatments for severe atopic dermatitis (AD). Azathioprine has often been used but there has been no randomized controlled trial of this drug to confirm its efficacy in AD. To establish or refute the efficacy of azathioprine in severe AD. To investigate the safety and tolerability of azathioprine in this patient populati...

Tinea capitis is rare in the elderly. We report cases of two elderly women who presented to our dermatology clinic within 8 weeks of each other, with scalp scaling and alopecia. In both cases, Microsporum canis grew on fungal culture of their hair, and required prolonged treatment with terbinafine. Neither of them gave a history of contact with you...

Actinic granuloma of O'Brien and giant molluscum contagiosum in immunocompetent adults are rare skin disorders. There have been no previous reports of these two conditions occurring together. We report this occurrence in a 57-year-old Caucasian woman.