Dr April W. Armstrong’s presentation highlighted a series of impactful recent studies, covering a broad range of dermatologic conditions and treatments, published in JAMA Dermatology. She begins with a study examining the efficacy of combining oral acitretin with topical triamcinolone (TAC) for oral lichen planus. The combination therapy proved significantly more effective than topical TAC alone, leading to greater reductions in oral disease severity and longer-lasting symptom relief. 

Dr Armstrong then moved on to discuss bimekizumab’s role in treating severe palmoplantar pustular psoriasis and palmoplantar plaque psoriasis with pustules. The study showed that within 15 to 30 days, most patients experienced improvement, and within 1 to 4 months, significant clearance of skin and nail symptoms was achieved, alongside resolution of associated conditions like acrodermatitis continua of Hallopeau and SAPHO syndrome. 

She also presented promising results for upadacitinib in treating recalcitrant granulomatous cheilitis (GC), where 80% of patients achieved complete remission in just 4 months, with simultaneous control of Crohn’s disease. 

Next, Dr Armstrong discussed the potential of metformin in promoting hair growth for patients with central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia. A case series from JAMA Dermatology identified a positive relationship between metformin use and hair growth in these patients. 

Finally, she covers long-term follow-up data from the Ritux 3 trial, which showed that rituximab combined with short-term prednisone can offer sustained remission and reduce relapse rates in pemphigus, providing encouraging evidence for long-term management of this condition.