The fast-growing incidence of skin cancer, especially melanoma, is the guiding principle for intense development of various digital image-capturing devices providing easier recognition of melanoma by dermatologists. Handheld and digital dermoscopy, following of mole changes with smartphones and digital analysing of mole images, is based on evaluation of the colours, shape and deep structures in the skin moles. Incorrect colour information of an image, under- or overexposed images, lack of sharpness and low resolution of the images, can lead to melanoma misdiagnosis. The purpose of our study was to determine the colour error in the image according to the given lighting conditions and different camera settings. We focused on measuring the image quality parameters of smartphones and high-resolution cameras to compare them with the results of state-of-the-art dermoscopy device systems. We applied standardised measuring methods. The spatial frequency response method was applied for measuring the sharpness and resolution of the tested camera systems. Colour images with known reference values were captured from the test target, to evaluate colour error as a CIELAB (Commission Internationale de l’Eclairage) ΔE*_ab colour difference as seen by a human observer. The results of our measurements yielded two significant findings. First, all tested cameras produced inaccurate colours when operating in automatic mode, and second, the amount of sharpening was too intensive. These deficiencies can be eliminated through adjusting the camera parameters manually or by image post-production. The presented two-step camera calibration procedure improves the colour accuracy of captured clinical and dermoscopy images significantly.

Background: Generalized pustular psoriasis (GPP) is a rare, inflammatory skin disease characterized by widespread eruption of sterile pustules with or without systemic symptoms.Objectives: This study aimed to describe the demographics of patients with GPP in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), present the clinical characteristics of individual GPP flares and explore the current treatment landscape.Methods: Patient demographics were collected at the times of last observation and previous treatment. Characteristics of a patient's last (most recent) and most severe (from all documented episodes) flare were provided at clinician's discretion.Results: Fifty‐eight patients were recruited from 12 centres in nine CEE countries; median (range) age was 61 (16–92) years and 60.3% (35 out of 58) were female. The most common comorbidities were hypertension (43.1% [25 out of 58]) and hyperlipidaemia (32.8% [19 out of 58]). Thirty‐four patients (58.6%) presented with concomitant plaque psoriasis before or during the course of GPP. Data from two separate flares were recorded in 26 individuals; in 32 patients, the most recent flare was reported as the most severe. Over 90% of patients with a flare episode classified as most severe by clinicians were hospitalized, with >75% of these individuals having a Generalized Pustular Psoriasis Physician Global Assessment (GPPGA) total score of 3 or 4. Systemic symptoms were more common in patients with a GPPGA score of 3 or 4 but were also manifest in individuals with a GPPGA score ≤2. A significant correlation was observed between a combined systemic disease score of clinical and laboratory features and both GPPGA total score (r = 0.385, p < 0.001) and GPPGA pustulation subscore (r = 0.305, p < 0.05).Conclusions: Considerable heterogeneity in the presentation of GPP flares was observed, both between patients and within‐patient. All GPP flares were associated with a significant clinical burden, highlighting the unmet need for accurate and early diagnosis.

Background and Objectives: Methotrexate is widely prescribed for the treatment of moderate-to-severe psoriasis. As drug survival encompasses efficacy, safety, and treatment satisfaction, such studies provide insights into successful drug treatments in the real-life scenario. The objective was to define methotrexate drug survival and reasons for discontinuation, along with factors associated with drug survival, in a cohort of adult patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. Materials and Methods: Data on methotrexate treatment were extracted from our institutional registry. Drug survival was estimated by Kaplan–Meier analysis, and predictors of drug survival were analyzed by Cox proportional hazards regression. Results: We included 133 patients treated with methotrexate. Due to significant effects of the year of treatment initiation, drug survival analysis was performed for 117 patients who started methotrexate in 2010 or later. Median methotrexate drug survival was 11.0 months. Overall, 89% of patients discontinued treatment, with over half of these (51%) due to lack of efficacy. Significantly longer drug survival was seen for patients who discontinued treatment due to lack of efficacy versus drug safety (p = 0.049); when stratified by sex, this remained significant only for women (p = 0.002). The patient ABCC2 rs717620 genotype was significantly associated with drug survival in both univariate log-rank and multivariate Cox regression analyses, with variant T allele associated with longer drug survival (hazard ratio, 0.606; 95% confidence interval, 0.380–0.967; p = 0.036). Conclusions: We have identified the novel association of patient ABCC2 rs717620 genotype with methotrexate drug survival. This pharmacogenetic marker might thus help in the management of psoriasis patients in daily practice.