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In the recent years, advances in different fields of technology have been resulted in a dramatic increase in the diagnostic methods and tests in different branches of clinical medicine with a consequent increase in the number of scientific publications related to the application of those tests and methods in the diagnosis or prevention of diseases. Dermatology is not an exception. Since, evidence-based medicine emphasizes on the appropriate use of the current best clinical research evidence in the diagnosis or treatment of each individual patient acknowledging his/her values, the capability of dermatologists in appraisal and application of the publications, which reports the results of diagnostic test accuracy studies cannot be ignored. In this article, after a brief review on basic issues in diagnostic test accuracy studies, principles of critical appraisal of these studies, from an evidence-based viewpoint, will be discussed. General strategies for evaluation of validity, applicability and quality assessment of a diagnostic test study will be provided.

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Background and Aim: Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is endemic in Iran, where it is one of the most important health problems. Both anthroponotic CL (ACL) caused by L. tropica and zoonotic CL (ZCL) caused by L. major are reported. Antimoniate derivatives as the standard therapy for CL need multiple injections and are not easy to tolerate for the patients. This study was conducted in Mashhad to compare the efficacy of weekly versus twice a week intralesional injections of meglumine antimoniate (MA) in the treatment of ACL.
Methods: This randomised controlled trial was performed during 2006 to 2008 in Mashhad, Iran. Using computerized sequence of random numbers, participants were randomly allocated in the two arms of the study: one receiving weekly and the other receiving twice-a-week intralesional injections of MA. The lesion size, induration and healing rate were assessed, recorded and compared. Healing was defined as complete re-epithelialisation and disappearance of induration.
Results: A total of 252 suspected CL patients with 372 lesions were screened. 82 parasitologically proven cases with 121 lesions caused by L. tropica were included and 74 patients with 113 lesions completed the study. At 12^th week after initiation of treatment, complete healing was observed in 38 out of 44 lesions (86.4%) in the group which received weekly intralesional MA injection. The median time-to-heal in this group was 36 days (95% confidence interval [CI]: 32.0-39.9). Complete healing was recorded in 60 out of 69 lesions (86.9%) in the group which received twice a week intralesional injections of MA with a median time-to-heal of 25 days (95% CI: 20.9-29.1). While no significant difference was observed between the two groups in terms of complete healing rate (P=0.999), time-to-heal was significantly different between the 2 groups (P=0.003).
Conclusion: It seems that the effectiveness of twice-weekly intralesional injections of MA is similar to once-weekly regimen while the former regimen causes more rapid healing of lesions.

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Background and Aim: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic, relapsing, pruritic skin disease more common in infancy and childhood. Emollients, topical corticosteroids, and avoidance of irritating factors are the mainstay of its treatment, but fear of side effects has limited the use of topical corticosteroids. The objective of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of topical tacrolimus 0.03% ointment in the treatment of AD.
Methods: In this randomized, double-blind, clinical trial, 76 patients with AD older than 2 years were randomly allocated in two groups and treated with either tacrolimus 0.03% ointment (Abu-Rayhan Co., Iran) or placebo, twice a day for 6 weeks. Responses to treatment were compared every 2 weeks using SCORAD.
Results: Twenty-nine patients in tacrolimus group and 26 in placebo group completed the trial. The reduction in SCORAD after 2 and 4 weeks in tacrolimus group was significantly higher than placebo group (P<0/05). The frequency of treatment-induced pruritus and burning sensation was similar in both groups but erythema was more observed in the placebo group (P<0/05).
Conclusion: Tacrolimus 0.03% ointment is more effective than placebo in the treatment of AD.

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Dermatology is a branch of medicine which is related to the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of the diseases and disorders that affect the skin and its appendages including hair, nail, sweat glands and mucosal surfaces of mouth and external genitalia. There are about 3000 clinical entities in the field of dermatology, which are very diverse in terms of their etiologies. Although some of these diseases are really prevalent and some others of them have high incidence rates and acknowledging that because of their visibility in many cases they are associated with stress, anxiety and impairment of patients' quality of lives, their resultant burden of disease at individual, familial and social levels are usually ignored. Herein, we provide some examples of the adverse public health and health economics effects of different dermatological diseases and disorders in different countries and populations. We also provide some reasons for this negligence and suggest some strategies to tackle this problem.

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According to evidence-based medicine, randomized controlled clinical trials are a group of research designs which provides the highest level of clinical evidence, particularly regarding therapeutic or preventive interventions. Considering the dramatic increase in the number of published clinical trials in medical journals, the readership need to have knowledge about the problems that may occur during design and conduct of these studies, as well as about proper reporting of them. Due to importance of these studies in clinical medicine, several guidelines have been developed regarding designing, conducting and reporting clinical trials. One of the most important guidelines which has been developed to alleviate the problems in reporting randomized clinical trials is Consolidated Standards for Reporting Trials (CONSORT). In this article, some crucial points with regards to the report of the comparison of outcomes of interventions in randomized controlled trials will be reviewed briefly.

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Conclusion: While 53% of the IBDEC members were disagree with that the written board examination can assess residents' different levels of knowledgeproperly, the majority of them were also disagree with the implementation of suggested approved methods for improving the validity of the written board examination. Most of them were also disagree with implementation of evaluation methods for improving oral examination validity.

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Urticaria is a common and challenging skin disorder. Its diagnosis and treatment is not limited to the field of dermatology. General physicians, and allergologists and clinical immunologists are also commonly involved in the management of urticaria patients. One of the missions of the Iranian Society of Dermatology is to develop strategies to provide the best possible management for patients suffering dermatological conditions. To accomplish this mission, the Society assigned a committee to search and critically appraise the recent research evidence and available guidelines to develop a clinical practice guideline concerning diagnosis and treatment of urticaria.

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Background and Aim: Mycosis fungoides (MF) is the most common primary cutaneous lymphoma. Diagnosis of early MF (eMF) is often difficult due to its resemblance of benign dermatoses. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of provided clinical information on the histopathology request forms for diagnosis of eMF according to the International Society of Cutaneous Lympoma (ISCL) criteria. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 108 patients admitted to Razi Hospital, Tehran, between April 2012 and November 2013, who were biopsied as eMF cases, were recruited. Based on partial application of ISCL algorithm, the checklist of clinical and histopathological findings were scored. Results: Eighty-five (78.7%) patients received maximum total clinical and histopathological scores (4) and their eMF were definitely diagnosed. Sixteen (14.8%) patients received a total score of 3, and suggestive eMF diagnosis was made. Further work up such as immunohistochemistry (IHC) evaluation were recommended. Seven patients (6.5%) received a total score of 2, which did not confirm eMF diagnosis. Follow up was recommended. In 14 (87.5%) of 16 patients who had received a total score of 3, the definite diagnosis of eMF was made according to the results of IHC. They were referred to receive treatment. In 2 patients (12.5%) diagnosis of eMF were not confirmed by IHC. They were recommended to undergo polymerase chain reaction (PCR) evaluation Conclusion: Many MF cases can be diagnosed in the early stages using a combination of clinical and histopathological criteria.

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David Lawrence Sackett, OC, MD, FRSC, FRCP was an American-Canadian physician, trialist, and teacher. He is best known as one of the pioneers of evidence-based medicine (EBM), which is arguably the most important movement in medicine over the past three decades. He founded the first clinical epidemiology department in McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada in 1967. In addition, he was the head of the Center for the Evidence-Based Medicine in Oxford, UK. He also was the first chair of Cochrane Collaboration and the first founding coeditor of the journal of Evidence-Based Medicine and had many other honors. He published 12 books, 60 chapters in other books, and about 300 articles in scientific and medical journals. He died on May 13, 2015 at age 80 because of cholangiocarcinoma. While Dr. Sackett will be missed by his friends, colleagues, mentees as well as EBM proponents and followers all over the world, his contributions to EBM in particular, and to medicine in general will never be forgotten.

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Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease which mainly affects the skin and peripheral nervous system. It has been associated with significant fear and stigma because of causing disabilities and deformities. According to the latest reports by World Health Organization (WHO), there were more than 180000 registered leprosy cases in the first quarter of 2014 and over 214000 new cases were detected in 2013. In this brief review, updates on a new causative agent for leprosy, Mycobactrium leprosmatosis, armadillos and the possibility of existence of a zoonotic form of leprosy, new strains of M. leprae and their importance, and the latest available leprosy statistics in Iran will be presented.

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Three decades have passed since the first time evidence-based medicine (EBM), in its current form, was introduced. Arguably, over the past two decades it has been the most significant movement in medicine. There is no need to emphasize any approach to clinical medicine practice, including EBM, has its proponents and opponents. Certainly, EBM has been subjected to many challenges and criticisms. Some of those challenges are basically related to misunderstanding and misinterpretations of EBM. However, there are some challenges that are real and are acknowledged by the most loyal EBM supporters. After hearing some criticisms posed by few knowledgeable and competent dermatologists during the recently held 7^th Evidence-Based Dermatology (EBD) seminar in Tehran, the authors of this letter, two of the pioneers of EBD in Iran, decide to open a gate for sharing and discussing different viewpoints on EBM and EBD.

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About 25 years have been passed since the evidence-based medicine (EBM) group declared it as a new approach to teaching and practicing clinical medicine. EBM was based on the combination of three principles: use of current best evidence from research, clinical expertise, and patients' values and preferences. Practically, EBM substitutes pathophysiological reasoning based on basic science research with use of clinical evidence from high quality randomized controlled clinical trials. Like all other approaches to clinical medicine, EBM has been criticized since it was introduced. Herein, we review common problems of EBM according to its critics, introduce what is known as real EBM, and briefly discuss how we could move towards real EBM.

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