This term comes from 2 Greek words : λευκóς= leukos = white θρίξ = trix = hair The term is less and less used nowadays. It is not found in recent dermatological textbooks. Leukotrichia means having white hair. Nevertheless, it does NOT give any precision whether this white hair is pathological or normal (a sign…
DetailsIn the ancient classification (now obsolete), donovanosis was listed as the 5th venereal disease. In dermatology textbooks, it is known as Granuloma Inguinale ou venereal granuloma. As this infection is quite rare in Western Europe and that names are quite similar, medical students tend to find it difficult to make the difference with lymphogranuloma venereum…
DetailsThe term comes originally from Latin: Favus = honeycomb When one looks at a famous picture in Dr Hebra’s textbook, one understands the comparison of the term with ease. The fungus causing the affection is called Trichophyton schönleinii, which refers to Dr Johann Lucas Schönlein (1793-1864) who worked at la Charité hospital in Berlin, Germany.…
DetailsThe Greek and Latin words of origin are: μυξοσ = muxos = mucosité – latin : mucos οιδεμα = oidema = swelling The first term in Greek is not universally used anymore. The latin translation of the Greek word is “mucos”. The terms translated into Latin from Greek are sometimes confusing: it is probably the…
DetailsDr Ferdinand Jean Darier (1856-1938) was born in Budapest, Hungary. He studied medicine in Geneva, Switzerland and Paris. He worked with Drs Ernest Besnier et Alfred Fournier and sub-specialized in dermatopathology. Darier is considered as the father of modern dermatology in France and wrote a dermatology textbook “Précis de Dermatologie” (edited 4 times). He also…
DetailsThe term comes from Greek: βoυβớν = boubon = swelling of the inguinal glande In other words it is an adenopathy of inguinal lymph mode – also called bubon. Today the term is less and less used probably because Hippocrates (of Kos) described it for thé plague, which was prevalent in Ancient Times. The bubo…
DetailsAdenoma Sebaceum refers to lesions on the face described in 1890 by the British dermatologist Dr John James Pringle (1855-1922). Adenoma Sebaceum is a misnomer, the lesions are actually angiofibromas – which is closer to Koenen’s tumors which are peringual fibromas. The facial lesions are neither adenomas, nor sebaceous in origin. Multiple “real” sebacous adenomas…
DetailsDrug Eruptions in the Skin (toxiderma) (For Professionals) Our skin reflects our health. Do you know that our skin also reacts to the drugs that we use? A drug reaction may mimic any type of skin disease and may present with rashes, swelling, redness, itching and pain. They can be bullous, pustular, urticarial or papulosquamous.…
DetailsThe use of steroids in dermatology was initiated by two American New-York based dermatologists: Marion Sulzberger and Victor Witten. Topical steroids: early topical preparations containing cortisone acetate were surprisingly ineffective HYDROcortisone acetate was made available (“Compound F” by Merck): It was combined 25mg/g with an ointment base…and became moderately effective initially for Atopic Dermatitis. Results…
DetailsWell actually a joke but many of us don’t know that Mohs is actually a general surgeon. Dr Frederick E. Mohs (1910-2002), was an American physician and surgeon from WISCONSIN who developed migrographic surgery This “microscopically controlled method of cancer excision” was published in 1941. It a technique, which is used to remove skin neoplasms…
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