Beauty and the Biologic: Artistic Documentation of Scientific Breakthrough in Psoriasis

The making of wax moulages was an exclusive and sought-after art that was primarily used for teaching, but also to document clinical and laboratory research during the first half of the 20th century. Applying the technique of moulage-making to document a case of psoriasis improvement for posterity,...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Julia-Tatjana Maul, Sabina Carraro, Johanna Stierlin, Michael L. Geiges, Alexander A. Navarini
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Karger Publishers 2015-09-01
Series:Case Reports in Dermatology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/439583
Description
Summary:The making of wax moulages was an exclusive and sought-after art that was primarily used for teaching, but also to document clinical and laboratory research during the first half of the 20th century. Applying the technique of moulage-making to document a case of psoriasis improvement for posterity, a moulage of the trunk of a patient with psoriasis vulgaris was taken prior to treatment with biologics - adalimumab, a TNF-α antagonist - and again 3 month after adalimumab was first given. Our modern moulage shows in the most realistic way the science-driven improvement of psoriasis achievable nowadays with biologics. However, the real clinical picture of the disease is shrouded by showing only one detail of the patient - by accident the one with the best clinical improvement. All available techniques to document skin disease have advantages and limitations and nothing beats seeing live patients.
ISSN:1662-6567