New approaches in the diagnostic of ichthyosis disorders

Abstract

The lack of a holistic conception of the pathogenesis of ichthyosis complicates the development of effective and reli able treatment methods, making it impossible to predict the clinical course of this dermatosis. For the diagnosis of ichthyosis, it is necessary to use a complex of morphological and laboratory methods of research, which differ in accuracy of results and complexity of implementation. Today known methods of diagnosing macroscopic skin changes in dermatosis have a number of shortcomings [2,3,5-7]. Firstly, the offered dermatological criteria are meant mainly for diagnosis of melanoma. Secondly, they do not evaluate the severity of the disease. Thirdly, offered dermatological criteria for nontumor skin diseases remain at the level of treatment concepts and are not standardized. The generally accepted clinical examination of the patient is based on the subjective perception of the visible signs of skin lesions by a doctor, that can lead to diagnostic errors. Therefore, the development of new methods for ichthyosis diagnosis is urgent, which will facilitate the verification of the diagnosis and accordingly improve the quality of treatment. One of the modern and available methods of diagnosis in dermatology is dermatoscopy, which is essentially epiluminescent microscopy with the study of skin microdermabrases (Ø 25 mm) to study skin dyschemia. As our experience shows, the use of dermatoscopy does not require special preparation on the part of the patient, has no contraindications. One of the advantages of the dermatoscopy method in the diagnosis of ichthyosis is the ability to clearly distinguish the lesion type, with its subsequent fixation on digital carri ers. It allows to analyze the received images, to get consultation from other specialists, and also provides possibility of objective dynamic observation in the background of treatment. Despite the existing clinical and laboratory data re garding the etiology and pathogenesis of ichthyosis, the achievement of modern therapies, some aspects of the development of this pathology remain poorly understood and the research data are controversial, which inhibits the development of promising methods for diagnosis and especially treatment of this serious disease. That is why the purpose of our research was to study the macroscopic changes in the skin of patients with various forms of ichthyosis in order to improve and optimize its treatment.