Psoriasis-Associated Lung Disease and Clinical Pearls for Dermatologist

When Douglas DiRuggiero, PA-C, a physician assistant at Skin Cancer & Cosmetic Dermatology, joined a panel at the 2026 SPDA Summer Meeting in Colorodo alongside dermatologists Ted Rosen, MD (Baylor College of Medicine), Matthew Zirwas (Bexley Dermatology), MD, and Whitney High, MD (University of Colorado Anschutz), the goal was straightforward: leave clinicians with at least one piece of actionable information they could carry back into practice.1

"If you've been in practice 10 years or more, you can sit in a 1-hour lecture, and if you come away with one pearl, it's worth the entire hour," DiRuggiero said.

The session, "Clinical Pearls for Optimizing Dermatologic Care," covered off-label, low-cost approaches to conditions that often resist standard treatment, including molluscum contagiosum and warts.1 For DiRuggiero, the standout moment came from Rosen, who described using a heating pad to help resolve widespread molluscum. The simplicity of the approach made an impression.

"We freeze these kids, and we put cantharidin on them. We write them medications, and they continue to proliferate," DiRuggiero said. "There are some really neat ways of treating things that may be simple and fast and effective."

DiRuggiero's own contribution centered on psoriasis, specifically a literature update on what he described as the newest comorbidity dermatologists need to reckon with: lung disease. Drawing on a study published in November 2025 in Respiratory Medicine, he walked attendees through findings from roughly 250 patients at a single medical center who had undergone chest CT imaging and carried a diagnosis of moderate-to-severe psoriasis.2 Investigators found those patients were more likely to have significant pulmonary abnormalities, including ground-glass opacities, a pattern now being termed psoriasis-associated lung disease (PsO-LD).

DiRuggiero argued that the finding is a natural extension of what the field already knows about psoriasis as a systemic, multi-organ disease.

"We have known for years it affects the cardiovascular system, that it can lead to metabolic syndrome, fatty liver problems, joint [involvement]," he said. "Why would we think it would not potentially affect the lungs?"

The clinical implication is a new conversation dermatologists need to be having with patients: adding pulmonary risk to the already established counseling around cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, and psoriatic arthritis.

Watch part 1 of our interview with DiRuggiero on his session “Prescribing with Precision: Antibiotic Stewardship in Dermatology” here:Antibiotic Stewardship in Dermatology: A Call to Prescribe Less

Editor’s note: Reported disclosures include E.R. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C, GENZYME CORPORATION, Janssen Biotech, Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Eli Lilly and Company, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, ABBVIE., Galderma Laboratories, L.P., Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Arcutis Biotherapeutics, and more.

References

1. DiRuggiero D. Clinical Pearls for Optimizing Dermatologic Care. Session presented at SDPA Summer 2026 from June 10 – 14.

2. Mitchell S, Peterson JA, Seely M, et al. Psoriasis-associated lung disease: A comprehensive review and case series. Respir Med. 2025;248:108285. doi:10.1016/j.rmed.2025.108285