History & Terminology
Ehlers-Danlos syndrome: more complicated than imagined
Tuesday, November 11th, 2014Ehlers-Danlos syndrome was described by 2 physicians together: the French dermatologist Dr Henri-Alexandre Danlos (1844-1912). He was at the Hôpital St-Louis in Paris and was a pioneer in the use of radium in systemic lupus erythematosus and skin lesions of tuberculosis. the Danish dermatologist Dr Edvard Ehlers (1862-1937). He trained in Breslau, Berlin, Vienna and […]
Tinea Amiantacea: a less confusing term when put in a historical context
Thursday, November 6th, 2014It comes from Latin: Tinea = insect (mite) The term tinea was used by our predecessors to name diseases of the scalp. One can imagine that certain conditions of the scalp had an appearance like being “eaten by mites”; that is probably what inspired them to use this term. Since Dr Alphonse Devergie (1798-1879), this […]
Nevus spilus: why use such a term ?
Thursday, November 6th, 2014Terminology Nevus comes from Latin and translated to: patch present at birth The Greek word of origin: σπιλος = spilos = dirt Translated together it means: dirty nevus Definition It is often understood that nevus spilus is a melanocytic nevus within another melanocytics nevus , or better melanocytic nevi inside another one. Nevus spilus is […]
Quincke’s Oedema (Angiedema): who was Quincke ?
Tuesday, November 4th, 2014Although not used frequently in English, *Quincke’s edema refers to a German physician and surgeon. His name was Dr Heinrich Iränus Quincke. He was born in Frankfurt in 1842 and died there in 1922. He was a subordinate physician (Assistentarzt) at the age of 28 and became chair of the department of internal medicine at […]
Goltz-Gorlin syndrome: Is it one or 2 syndromes ?
Tuesday, November 4th, 2014What syndrome is it and who is the author ? The authors are two physicians with the same first name. Dr Robert Gorlin (1923-2006) was initially a dentist and was interested in oral diseases. He joined the Minnesota school of dentistry as a stomatologist (histology and oral pathology). When he observed a female patient with […]
Leukotrichia: what the word means
Tuesday, November 4th, 2014This 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 […]
Donovanosis – the other name for Granuloma Inguinale
Tuesday, November 4th, 2014In 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 […]
Favus: a fungal affection which disappeared ?
Monday, November 3rd, 2014The 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. […]
Pretibial Myxedema / Pretibial Mucinosis: where do the words come from ?
Monday, November 3rd, 2014The 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 […]
Keratosis follicularis: who was Darier ?
Monday, November 3rd, 2014Dr 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 […]
