A female in her forties was bitten and scratched on her face by her house cat. She presented with several deep bite wounds on the forehead and left upper eyelid, which seemed to have been caused by the cat's bite. At the first visit, we washed the wounds thoroughly and administered the antibiotics cefozopran and clindamycin. In spite of the crush wounds and extensive ulceration in her upper eyelid, we sutured roughly using only key sutures with nylon thread and closed the wounds of the eyelid in combination with skin flaps without debridement. Swelling and redness of the eyelid and discharge of pus were observed on the third day, so we removed only two stitches and washed the wounds under the flaps every day. After Pasteurella multocida was detected by bacterial culture, we changed the antibiotics to levofloxacin and then the redness and pus discharge regressed. Seven months after injury, a slight scar remained; however, functionally and cosmetically satisfactory results were obtained. Although it is generally recommended that bite wounds be treated as open wounds, this case shows that bite wounds on the face could be partially closed early after injury with careful observation in order to obtain cosmetically good results.Skin Research, 12: 438-441, 2013

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A 31-year-old male visited the emergency department after scuba diving at a local beach in Guam. On arrival, he complained of severe pain in his right thumb and index finger. He was diagnosed with stonefish sting. The patient was given an oral steroid and antibiotics. Despite improvement in the pain and swelling, the symptoms recurred upon his return to Japan. The patient was transferred to our hospital with suspected necrotizing fasciitis based on the laboratory finding of elevated creatine phosphokinase (CPK) of 619IU/l at the local hospital. On admission, the CPK level was 299IU/l, so he was given 15mg of oral prednisolone (PSL) and cefazolin (CEZ). Despite temporary improvement of the swelling and redness, the symptoms worsened on the third day of admission. However, the symptoms subsequently improved, and PSL was tapered to 10mg after 5 days. His right hand swelling was markedly reduced after 21 days of PSL. His symptoms were supposed to have been related to delayed allergic reaction to stonefish venom.Skin Research, 12: 442-445, 2013

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Recent trends in esthetic dermatology are reviewed. Various kinds of therapeutic modalities, including lasers, fillers, BOTOX and chemical peels, have been developed over the last 30 years. A specific effect or general rejuvenation of the skin is the goal of each esthetic dermatological procedure. Dermatologists' role in this field is to undertake proper evaluation and perform scientific practice in combination with general dermatology practice.Skin Research, 12: 446-449, 2013

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