Giuseppe Argenziano

University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli" · Dipartimento di Salute Mentale e Fisica e Medicina Preventiva

Idiopathic facial aseptic granuloma (IFAG) is a benign condition presenting as one or more asymptomatic, red/purple, soft/elastic nodules involving the face of young children, especially the cheeks and eyelids. It is included in the spectrum of childhood rosacea. However, a possible association with a late inflammation of an embryonic remnant or a...

Nonmelanoma skin cancers (NMSC), comprising basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), are typically encountered on photo-exposed skin. Nevertheless, several cases of NMSC have been described in covered areas such as the genital region; furthermore, some of these lesions may express a variable degree of pigmentation. Due to the e...

SIDeMaST (Società Italiana di Dermatologia Medica, Chirurgica, Estetica e delle Malattie Sessualmente Trasmesse) contributed to the development of the present guideline on the systemic treatment of chronic plaque psoriasis. With the permission of EuroGuiDerm, SIDeMaST adapted the guideline to the Italian healthcare context to supply a reliable and...

The evidence- and consensus-based guideline on atopic eczema, published in JEADV on 18 August 2022 (part 1) and 3 September 2022 (part 2) was developed in accordance with the EuroGuiDerm Guideline and Consensus Statement Development Manual. Four consensus conferences were held between December 2020 and July 2021. Twenty-nine experts (including clin...

SIDeMaST (Società Italiana di Dermatologia Medica, Chirurgica, Estetica e delle Malattie Sessualmente Trasmesse) contributed to the development of the present guideline on the systemic treatment of chronic plaque psoriasis. With the permission of EuroGuiDerm, SIDeMaST adapted the guideline to the Italian healthcare context to supply a reliable and...

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been demonstrated to be involved in biological processes, both physiological and pathological, including cancer, cardiovascular diseases, multiple sclerosis, autoimmune hepatitis and types I and II diabetes. LncRNAs are also known to have a critical role in the physiology of skin, and in the pathology of cutaneous...

Background: Alopecia areata (AA) is an organ-specific autoimmune disease that affects the hair follicles of the scalp and the rest of the body causing hair loss. Due to the unpredictable course of AA and the different degrees of severity of hair loss, only a few well-designed clinical studies with a low number of patients are available. Also, ther...

Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) accounts for ∼20%-25% of all skin tumors. Its precise incidence is often challenging to determine due to limited statistics and its incorporation with mucosal forms. While most cases have a favorable prognosis, challenges arise in patients presenting with locally advanced or metastatic forms, mainly appearin...

Allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) is a common inflammatory skin disease caused by delayed hypersensitivity to chemical and biotic contact allergens. ACD significantly affects the patients' quality of life negatively impacting both occupational and non-occupational settings. Patch testing is the gold standard diagnostic in vivo test to precise the A...

Introduction: Self-induced dermatoses are self-inflicted skin lesions, whose occurrence patient denies responsibility for. Objectives: The aim of this study was to retrospectively investigate all the clinical records of dermatitis artefacta (DA) in order to put special focus on: a) epidemiological aspects; b) location, shape and additional featu...

Amelanotic/hypomelanotic melanoma (AHM) may be difficult to diagnose because of a lack of pigmentation. To evaluate whether dermoscopy can be useful for the diagnosis of early AHM, 133 digital dermoscopic images of lesions histopathologically diagnosed as amelanotic/hypomelanotic superficial spreading melanoma with ≤1 mm thickness (AHSSMs) ( n = 27...

Background The detection of cutaneous metastases (CMs) from various primary tumours represents a diagnostic challenge. Objectives Our aim was to evaluate the general characteristics and dermatoscopic features of CMs from different primary tumours. Methods Retrospective, multicentre, descriptive, cross‐sectional study of biopsy‐proven CMs. Result...

This series introduces the clinical management of difficult-to-treat non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSCs) through a multidisciplinary approach, emphasizing the integration of dermoscopy and Ultra high-frequency ultrasound (UHFUS) for accurate diagnosis and treatment planning, particularly in cases referred for radiotherapy (RT). Dermoscopy aids in dia...

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory, immune-mediated, debilitating skin disease, characterized by subcutaneous nodules, with a still not clear pathophysiology. Although the prevalence is rather low (about 1% in Europe), its clinical complications, as well as the disabling symptomatology, make it necessary multidisciplinary thera...

Introduction: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease that negatively impacts the quality of life and work productivity of patients. Objectives: We sought to evaluate the real-world burden of AD patients in Italy. Methods: This sub-analysis of the MEASURE-AD multicountry study between December 2019-2020 included patients...

Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is a surgical procedure aimed to detect nodal metastases in patients with clinically occult disease. Since the advent of new systemic therapies, its role in melanoma has been extensively debated over the last years. In this article, three possible scenarios are discussed, considering the SLNB impact on the manageme...

Background There is limited epidemiological evidence on outcomes associated with dupilumab exposure during pregnancy; monitoring pregnancy outcomes in large populations is required. Objective To investigate the potential association between exposure to dupilumab in pregnant women with atopic dermatitis and any adverse pregnancy, neonatal, congenit...

Background: Risankizumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody that selectively inhibits interleukin-23. It has been approved for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis and has shown efficacy and safety in clinical trials and real-world experiences. This study aimed to evaluate the long-term effectiveness, safety, and drug survival of risankizumab in a r...

Simple Summary Nevus-associated cutaneous melanoma (CM) is a malignant melanocytic proliferation occurring in the context of a pre-existing benign melanocytic nevus. This type of melanoma is not infrequent, accounting for up to 35% of all superficial spreading CMs. Discriminating between malignant and benign cellular populations may be challenging,...

Introduction Patients with psoriasis who have failed multiple biologic drugs have been defined as “multi‐failure,” although there are no clear data on the characteristics, comorbidities, and best treatment strategies for this population. Nowadays, given the next generation and the number of biologics available, patients are considered multi‐failure...

Background Melanoma disease patterns vary with patient age. Aim To evaluate sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) in managing melanoma at differing patient ages. Methods Online prediction tools were applied to compare SLNB positivity (SLNB ⁺ ) and survival risk at patient ages 20–80. Tübingen melanoma data were used to determine variations in the haz...

Chronic hand eczema (CHE) is a common inflammatory skin condition that significantly impacts the quality of life. From work-related disabilities to social embarrassment, pain, and financial costs, the burden on society is substantial. Managing this condition presents challenges such as long-term treatment, poor patient compliance, therapy side effe...

A nationwide cross-sectional online survey was administered to dermatologists managing patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis across Italy to obtain real-world dermatologists’ perspectives on the impact of psoriasis and its treatment on patients’ daily lives and quality of life (QoL). A total of 91 dermatologists (aged 39.1 ± 11.2 years)...

Background: Tralokinumab is a human monoclonal antibody targeting interleukin-13 that is approved for the treatment of moderate-severe atopic dermatitis. Studies analyzing the efficacy and safety of tralokinumab in a real-world setting are scarce. Research design and methods: A European, multicentric, real-world, retrospective cohort study was d...

The aim of this study was to provide indications for adjuvant radiotherapy in high risk cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma.

Background Methyl aminolevulinate (MAL) photodynamic therapy (PDT) is commonly used for field treatment of actinic keratoses (AKs). In standard natural daylight PDT (n‐DL‐PDT) the first step, after the application of chemical solar filter, is removal of crusts and scales by curettage, followed by the application of MAL cream. Some patients experien...

Introduction: Although the dermoscopic features of facial lentiginous melanomas (LM), including lentigo maligna and lentigo maligna melanoma, have been extensively studied, the literature about those located on the scalp is scarce. This study aims to describe the dermoscopic features of scalp LM and assess the diagnostic accuracy of dermoscopy to...

Introduction Phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors (PDE5-is) are used worldwide as first line therapy for erectile dysfunction (ED). Current literature reported data on the warning association between PDE5-is use and the development of cutaneous melanoma. However, these data are contrasting, thus we aim to summarise evidence regarding this association. C...

Introduction Seborrheic keratoses (SK), are very common benign skin lesions, which may increase in number and size with age. Objectives The aim of the study was to assess any differences seen in seborrheic keratoses in relation to different skin types (ST) and lesion location. Methods This was a retrospective observational study of 10-months peri...

Introduction Tildrakizumab is a humanized IgG1κ monoclonal antibody targeting the p19 subunit of interleukin (IL)-23, approved in 2018 for the treatment of patients with moderate-to-severe chronic plaque psoriasis. Objectives This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness, safety and survival of tildrakizumab in the medium term (48 weeks) in psori...

Melanonychia striata longitudinalis might involve one or more fingers and/or toes and might result from several different causes, including benign and malignant tumors, trauma, infections, and acti-vation of melanocytes that might be reactive or related to the pigmentary trait,drugs and some rare syndromes.This broad differential diagnosis renders...

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common form of cancer, with a high impact on the public health burden and social costs. Despite the overall prognosis for patients with BCC being excellent, if lesions are allowed to progress, or in a small subset of cases harboring an intrinsically aggressive biological behavior, it can result in local spread...

Background Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common inflammatory skin disease that affects both children and adults. However, limited research has been conducted on gender differences in AD. Objectives This study aimed to assess gender differences in adult AD patients, focusing on demographic and clinical features, comorbidities, and treatment approache...

Dermoscopy is a non-invasive, in vivo technique based on the use of a skin surface microscope (dermoscope) that allows the evaluation of morphologic structures invisible to the naked eye and specifically correlated to histologic features. It is widely used for the diagnosis of skin tumors and several dermatoses. The dermoscopic patterns of several...

Atypical pigmented facial lesions (aPFLs)—including lentigo maligna (LM) and lentigo maligna melanoma (LMM), solar lentigo (SL), pigmented actinic keratosis (PAK), atypical nevi (AN), seborrheic keratosis (SK) and lichen planus‐like keratosis (LPLK)—can exhibit clinical and dermoscopic overlapping features. We aimed to investigate if and how 14 der...

Background LM/LMM is usually diagnosed in elderly patients when it is a large lesion. However, it is important to detect it at an earlier stage to minimize the size of the surgical procedure. Objective To determine the clinical, dermoscopic and confocal features of LM/LMM in patients <50 years old Method This study included cases of consecutively...

AtopyReg® is a multicenter, prospective, observational, non-profit cohort study on moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis in adults promoted in 2018 by the Italian Society of Dermatology and Venereology (SIDeMaST). We aimed to describe baseline demographics, disease characteristics, comorbidities, and therapeutic data of adult patients affected by mo...

Dermoscopy aids in melanoma detection; however, agreement on dermoscopic features, including those of high clinical relevance, remains poor. Herein we attempted to evaluate agreement among experts on 'exemplar images' not only for the presence of melanocytic-specific features but also for spatial localization. This was a cross-sectional, multicente...

Background: Little information is available from real-life studies evaluating the efficacy of apremilast in moderate-to-severe psoriasis. Methods: In this real-life study, we retrospectively examined a database of 231 patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis treated with apremilast (30 mg twice/day) and followed up for 52 weeks. Disease severi...

Dermoscopy is widely used for the diagnosis of skin cancers and it increases the accuracy of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) detection. The dermoscopic criteria of BCC have recently been updated and they can be divided into three categories: vascular, pigment-related, and nonvascular/nonpigmentrelated. The objective of our multicentre retrospective stud...

We investigated whether human preferences hold the potential to improve diagnostic artificial intelligence (AI)-based decision support using skin cancer diagnosis as a use case. We utilized nonuniform rewards and penalties based on expert-generated tables, balancing the benefits and harms of various diagnostic errors, which were applied using reinf...

Background: Extrafacial lentigo maligna (EF-LM) arises outside the head and neck area. EF-LM presents the classic histological features of lentigo maligna. The dermoscopic aspects of EF-LM have been poorly studied. Objective: The primary aims of our study was to analyse and describe the clinical, dermoscopic and confocal microscopy features of a...

Background: Due to progressive ageing of the population, the incidence of facial lentigo maligna (LM) of the face is increasing. Many benign simulators of LM and LMM, known as atypical pigmented facial lesions (aPFLs - pigmented actinic keratosis, solar lentigo, seborrheic keratosis, seborrheic-lichenoid keratosis, atypical nevus) may be found on...

Introduction Brodalumab is a monoclonal antibody that targets the subunit A of the interleukin-17A receptor (IL17RA), inhibiting the signaling of various isoforms of the IL-17 family. It has been approved for the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis after being evaluated in three Phase-3 trials. However, long-term data on brodalumab in...

Introduction: Melanoma of the lentigo maligna (LM) type is challenging. There is lack of consensus on the optimal diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up. Objectives: To obtain general consensus on the diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up for LM. Methods: A modified Delphi method was used. The invited participants were either members of the Interna...

Background: Advanced basal cell carcinoma (aBCC) represents a complex and clinically heterogeneous group of lesions for which curative surgery and/or radiotherapy is unlikely. Systemic therapy with hedgehog pathway inhibitors (HHI) changed the treatment landscape for this complex patient population. Objectives: to describe the clinical character...

The current evidence on pediatric melanoma is heterogenous, especially regarding the prognosis of different histological subtypes. We sought to systematically review the evidence on pediatric melanoma, highlighting the major sources of heterogeneity and focusing on available data on single patients. A systematic search was performed from 1948 to Ja...

Background: Breslow thickness, patient age and ulceration are the three most valuable clinical and pathological predictors of melanoma survival. A readily available reliable online tool that accurately considers these and other predictors could be valuable for clinicians managing melanoma patients. Objective: To compare online melanoma survival...

Effective cancer screening detects early stage tumors, leading to a lower incidence of late-stage disease over time. Dermoscopy is the gold standard for skin cancer diagnosis as diagnostic accuracy is improved compared to naked eye examinations. As melanoma dermoscopic features are often body site specific, awareness of common features according to...

Background: Incidence of cutaneous melanoma is steadily growing, and its early recognition is of paramount importance. Small, pigmented lesions often represent a challenge for the clinician, as predictors of melanoma have not yet been uniquely identified in this setting. Objectives: To identify dermoscopic features that aid in distinguishing sma...

Background The management of cytological samples can significantly impact diagnostic interpretation. Cell blocks (CB) are a popular method due to their ability to provide additional morphological information and be used for immunocytochemistry and molecular tests. Recently, a new CB technique called the synthetic matrix CytoMatrix (CM) has been int...

Introduction: Several dermatological diseases lead to inflammatory conditions of the scalp. Most of these afflictions are recalcitrant and require long term maintenance treatment. Objectives: We present a case series where topical tacrolimus was used in a solution vehicle for these conditions. Methods: A total of 22 patients (aged 24-90 years)...

Background: Although primary care physicians (PCPs) play a key role in skin cancer screening, their skills in detecting malignant tumors is suboptimal. Objectives: To determine whether a short dermoscopy e-learning course (4 hours) in skin tumor diagnosis for PCPs is non-inferior to a long course (12 hours) in selective triage of skin lesions. S...

Lingua villosa nigra in a child after Covid: review and differential diagnosis with oral pigmentations of childhood

Background: Generalized pustular psoriasis (GPP) is a rare, severe inflammatory skin disease characterized by recurrent episodes of flares. Characteristics of patients experiencing a flare are hardly described in a real-life setting. The aim of the study is to investigate the clinical characteristics of patients experiencing a flare of GPP. Metho...