Daily Cosmetic Research Analysis

BACKGROUND: Actinic Keratosis (AK) has the potential to progress into malignant cancer, thus necessitating timely and effective treatment. Despite several existing therapies, there is still a need for effective, well-tolerated therapeutic options, especially in the early treatment of patients with few isolated lesions in primary care. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the efficacy and safety of potassium hydroxide (KOH) 5% solution in comparison to diclofenac 3% gel and placebo for the treatment of mild-to-moderate AK. METHODS: In this randomized controlled trial, patients with mild or moderate AK applied KOH or placebo solution double-blinded twice daily for 28 days, followed by a 28-day off-treatment phase (1 treatment cycle) for up to three treatment cycles or until treatment success. In a third arm, diclofenac was applied twice daily for 60 days and evaluated investigator-blinded. The primary endpoint was treatment success, defined as complete clearance (CC) of all initially present AK lesions per patient at the end of treatment (EOT). RESULTS: In total, 631 patients were enrolled. Treatment success was achieved by 45.2% of patients treated with KOH, compared to 23.8% and 22.9% with diclofenac and placebo, respectively. Similarly, complete remission rates for individual lesions were higher with KOH (65.0%) than with diclofenac (45.9%) or placebo (39.9%). KOH showed a faster onset of action, with higher CC rates already after 1 month compared to diclofenac (16.0% vs. 9.2%) and converging efficacies after 6 months. Most adverse reactions were mild and localized, with comparable tolerability of KOH and diclofenac. CONCLUSIONS: KOH 5% solution proved superior to placebo and, when compared to diclofenac 3% gel, demonstrated significantly higher efficacy at EOT, as well as faster onset of action with comparable long-term efficacy and tolerability. KOH 5% solution is a valuable addition to the available treatment options for lesion-directed therapy in patients with mild-to-moderate AK. GOV IDENTIFIER: NCT04552327. Repeatedly sun‐damaged skin can develop rough, scaly patches called actinic keratosis, which may eventually develop into skin cancer. In a trial with 631 adult patients at German medical centers, researchers tested whether a potassium hydroxide (KOH) solution could treat these patches compared to an often‐used standard therapy and to an inactive control (placebo). The results show that KOH solution is effective and safe in the therapy of early‐stage disease and quickly produces noticeable results. This makes KOH a useful option when choosing treatments for patients with early signs of actinic keratosis.

INTRODUCTION: This meta-analysis was designed to compare the outcomes of transoral endoscopic thyroidectomy vestibular approach (TOETVA) versus endoscopic thyroidectomy via the areola approach (ETAA) for thyroid carcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Five databases (PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Scopus) were systematically searched for studies comparing endoscopic thyroidectomy via TOETVA versus ETAA in patients with thyroid carcinoma. The search was conducted from the databases' establishment to May 31, 2025. Operative time, intraoperative blood loss, number of central lymph node dissections, postoperative drainage volume, length of hospital stay, postoperative infection, hypoparathyroidism, perioperative recurrent laryngeal nerve injury, complication, hypocalcemia, subcutaneous ecchymosis, cough, trachyphonia, postoperative parathyroid hormone (PTH), postoperative blood calcium, pain score of Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), swallowing discomfort, hematoma, central lymph node dissection time, and satisfaction with cosmetic effects were subjected to meta-analyses. RESULTS: A total of 15 studies were included in the meta-analysis. The meta-analysis included a group of 1,961 patients diagnosed with thyroid carcinoma. Within this cohort, 777 patients underwent endoscopic thyroidectomy via TOETVA, while 1,184 patients underwent endoscopic thyroidectomy via ETAA. Compared with ETAA, TOETVA yielded lower intraoperative bleeding volume [weighted mean difference (WMD = -1 mL, 95% confidence interval (CI): -3 to 0, p = 0.03], higher number of central lymph node dissections (WMD = 1.4, 95% CI: 0.3 to 2.3, p = 0.02), and higher satisfaction with cosmetic effects of the patients (WMD = 0.93, 95% CI: 0.42 to 1.43, p = 0.0004), but longer operative time (WMD = 17 min, 95% CI: 8 to 26, p = 0.0002). There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups regarding postoperative drainage volume (WMD = -6 mL, 95% CI: -17 to 5, p = 0.31), postoperative infection [odds ratio (OR) = 1.43, 95% CI: 0.47 to 4.43, p = 0.53], perioperative recurrent laryngeal nerve injury (OR = 0.62, 95% CI: 0.30 to 1.28, p = 0.20), hypocalcemia (OR = 0.88, 95% CI: 0.40 to 1.91, p = 0.74), swallowing discomfort (OR = 0.83, 95% CI: 0.24 to 2.95, p = 0.78), hypoparathyroidism (OR = 0.47, 95% CI: 0.18 to 1.18, p = 0.11), and hospitalization time (WMD = 0.03 days, 95% CI: -0.13 to 0.19, p = 0.71). CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicated that both TOETVA and ETAA demonstrated safe and reliable clinical efficacy. TOETVA offers additional benefits concerning satisfaction with cosmetic effects and central lymph node dissection. TOETVA is an optimal option for patients seeking scarless surgical procedures. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, identifier CRD420251021663.

BACKGROUND: Hyaluronic acid-based dermal fillers are commonly used to correct prominent nasolabial folds (NLFs), a hallmark of aging. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to verify effectiveness and safety of the investigational device STYLAGE® L (Laboratoires VIVACY, Archamps, France) versus a well-established comparator Restylane® (Galderma, Uppsala, Sweden) in correcting moderate to severe NLFs in Chinese subjects. METHODS: A 12-month, randomized, subject- and evaluator-blinded, controlled, parallel-group, non-inferiority study conducted across 8 hospitals in China. The primary endpoint was percentage of Wrinkle Severity Rating Scale (WSRS) responders 6 months after last treatment. Secondary endpoints included Global Aesthetic Improvement Scale (GAIS) responders, subject satisfaction, device performance, and tolerance. RESULTS: In total, 194 and 196 subjects were randomized to the treatment and control group, respectively, and analyzed. In the primary endpoint analysis, non-inferiority of the investigational device was demonstrated as the lower limit of the 95% confidence interval (CI) was greater than -10% (difference [95% CI] in percentage of responders: 9.33% [2.10%, 16.56%]). WSRS responder rates were statistically significantly higher in the treatment than the control group at 6 months (9.19% [1.85%, 16.54%], p=0.0157), 9 months (19.75% [10.97%, 28.53%], p<0.0001), and 12 months (11.36% [2.64%, 20.09%], p=0.0116). GAIS responder rates were high in both groups throughout the study (>73%). Subject satisfaction was high. Both devices were well-tolerated. Device performance scores were statistically significantly higher (i.e. aspects were 'harder') with the investigational device versus the comparator. CONCLUSIONS: Non-inferiority of the investigational device versus the comparator in correcting NLFs in Chinese subjects was demonstrated. Results up to 12 months suggest comparable safety and effectiveness profiles.