Gorbachev and Birthmark (Port-Wine Stain)

• Mikhail Gorbachev (Михаи́л Серге́евич Горбачёв; b1931) was the last leader of the Soviet Union (USSR; Chairman  of the Presidium of the Soviet Supreme) from 1988 to its fall in 1991.
• He is famous for having implemented policies to end the cold-war:
  • glasnost (« openness »)
  • perestroika (« restructuring »)
• To this end, he was awarded to Nobel Peace Prize in 1990.

• He is known for a port-wine stain on the right forehead. It is on the dermatome of the ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve (V.I; in Green on the diagram)
• At birth, involvement of the V.I branch requires exclusion of a vascular malformation of blood vessels located in the pia matter of the brain. This associated malformation to these port-wine stains is known as the Sturge-Weber syndrome

Contributors

Dr Christophe HSU – dermatologist. Geneva, Switzerland

Bibliography: image taken from Wikipedia