Chronic prurigo is defined by the presence of chronic pruritus and multiple localized or generalized pruritic skin lesions (whitish or pinkish papules, nodules and/or plaques). Chronic prurigo occurs due to neural sensitization to pruritus and the development of a vicious pruritus-scratching cycle. Recent research results on the pathophysiology of pruritus evidenced neuroimmune interactions and allow new therapeutic perspectives.

The overall objective of the guideline is to provide up-to-date, evidence-based recommendations for the management of delusional infestation (DI) in adults.

Linked Comment: I. Coulson. Br J Dermatol 2022; 187:457.

This review is the first to scope, collate, and catalogue research investigating biomarkers of disease progression in psoriasis. The review identifies potentially promising candidate biomarkers for further investigation and highlights common important limitations that should be considered when designing and conducting future studies in this area.

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Responses to the systemic treatments commonly used to treat psoriasis vary. Biomarkers that accurately predict effectiveness and safety would enable targeted treatment selection, improved patient outcomes and more cost-effective healthcare. This review provides a comprehensive catalogue of investigated biomarkers of systemic treatment response in psoriasis.

Linked Comment: A.D. Ormerod. Br J Dermatol 2022; 187:458–459.

The topical application of NAC-GED 5% reduced TLC, increased the IGA success rate and was safe for patients with acne vulgaris #10;- NAC-GED, a new PPAR gamma; modulator, showed an effective clinical response.

Linked Comment: C. Dessinioti. Br J Dermatol 2022; 187:455–456.

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Melanoma is a common cancer, for which skin examinations are promoted as an early detection tool. In a large, prospective cohort, we documented the incidence of melanoma among people who had and had not been screened. Melanoma incidence was about 29% higher in the screened group over more than 5 years of follow-up, suggesting possible overdiagnosis among people undergoing skin examinations.

Linked Comment: K.J.L. Bell and T. Nijsten. Br J Dermatol 2022; 187:459–460.

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In this study we found that 225 HS patients on average were treated with systemic therapies for eight years before starting biologic therapy. The high number of systemic treatment series used prior to initiation of biologics may reflect referral delays or difficulties in obtaining disease control in patients with moderate-to-severe HS.

Linked Comment: T. Tzellos. Br J Dermatol 2022; 187:462–463.

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Although alopecia areata is common and greatly impacts patients’ wellbeing, there is no adequate validation of disease-specific surveys in clinical trials, hindering sufficient representation of patient-reported outcomes. This study found that in a clinical trial setting, the Alopecia Areata Symptom Impact Scale (AASIS) questionnaire is strongly correlated with alopecia areata severity and clinical response. Patients with ≤ 20% of scalp hair loss after treatment reported improvement in multiple quality-of-life items, suggesting a meaningful therapeutic outcome that may guide clinicians and improve the development of future clinical trials.

• A Vitiligo Core Outcome Set is being developed, to enable the results of vitiligo trials to be compared and combined more easily • The VNS shows good construct validity, reliability and acceptability. It can be used in all ages and skin phototypes • The VNS can be used as a PROM to assess cosmetic acceptability of repigmentation at individual patches of vitiligo

Linked Comment: A.G. Pandya and K. Ezzedine. Br J Dermatol 2022; 187:461–462.

• A common skin microbiome signature was observed across congenital ichthyoses • Distinct microbiome features were associated with ichthyosis subtypes • Changes in microbiome may contribute to Th17 immune polarization

Linked Comment: A.M. Schneider and A.M. Nelson. Br J Dermatol 2022; 187:457–458.

IRT-based model is a useful and reliable method for early identification of pressure induced tissue damage by clinical nurses. This model can objectively and accurately detect PIs one day before visual cues and help guide prevention.

Linked Comment: L.J. Gould and E. White-Chu. Br J Dermatol 2022; 187:456.

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The two clinico-pathological patterns are ‘Sweet-like syndrome’ and ‘Multiple COVID-Arm’. ‘Sweet-like syndrome’ presents clinically as erythematous and oedematous papules or plaques, sometimes developing vesiculation or bullae. Histology shows classical Sweet syndrome with a diffuse dermal neutrophilic infiltrate, or an infiltrate of histiocyte-like immature myeloid cells consistent with a histiocytoid Sweet syndrome. ‘Multiple COVID-arm’ is characterized by multiple large inflammatory plaques with histological analyses showing a perivascular and interstitial inflammatory infiltrate with eosinophils.

Cases of new-onset pernio and recurrences in our cohort align tightly with trends in mean 7-day COVID-19 positivity in Wisconsin and mean temperature in Madison, Wisconsin by month.