Keeping score: Novel method might help differentiate two serious skin diseases

Your skin becomes red and spots filled with pus appear, so you visit a dermatologist. When these symptoms spread to the skin throughout the body, it is difficult for the physician to distinguish whether it is generalized pustular psoriasis (GPP) or acute generalized exanthematous pustulosis (AGEP), as both have similar symptoms. The two diseases run different courses and require different treatments. Without proper treatment, the symptoms can worsen severely and cause complications, so it is essential to distinguish between them.

Researchers from Osaka Metropolitan University and the Mayo Clinic in the United States have developed a scoring system as a novel tool to distinguish between the two diseases.

Led by Dr. Mika Yamanaka-Takaichi and Professor Daisuke Tsuruta, both from the Department of Dermatology at OMU's Graduate School of Medicine, and Professor Afsaneh Alavi from the Department of Dermatology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, the team studied data on clinical symptoms and laboratory findings of the diseases to create the system. Their findings were published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

The study looked at 54 patients with GPP and 63 patients with AGEP who over a two-decade span had sought treatment at OMU or the Mayo Clinic medical group.

"The results of this research might help medical professionals distinguish between GPP and AGEP, which have been difficult to differentiate in clinical practice. We hope the scoring system we suggest can lead to quicker diagnosis and the choosing of appropriate treatment," Dr. Yamanaka-Takaichi said.

"In the future, we aim to establish a diagnostic index that clinicians can use practically to differentiate between the two diseases."