DERMATOLOGY FOR THE USMLE BASICS OF DERMATOLOGY (5) COMMON TERM IN DERMATOLOGY

DERMATOLOGY FOR THE USMLE

BASICS OF DERMATOLOGY (5)

COMMON TERM IN DERMATOLOGY

General Terms

√	Dermatosis: Synonym for skin disease.
√	Dermatitis: Inflammation of the skin. Often used to refer to eczema
√	Eczematoid: A lesion that resembles eczema (inflamed, oozing and crusted).
√	Erythema: Pink-red discoloration of skin secondary to blood vessel dilation or increased blood flow.
√	Erythroderma: Erythema that affects > 90% of the body surface.
√	Rash: Sudden or gradual widespread eruption of skin lesions. Rashes can be acute, subacute or chronic.
√	Exanthem: Widespread rash often associated to an infectious agent and accompanied by systemic symptoms (eg, headache, myalgias, fever). If the rash occurs inside the body on mucous membranes, it is called an enanthem (eg, Koplik spots).
√	Koebner phenomenon: Appearance of the underlying dermatosis on previously uninvolved skin due to trauma.
√	Lesion: Area of altered skin. Lesions can vary in: » Color Hyper- or hypopigmented, red, purple, black, yellow, blue and white skin » Configuration and topography Grouped, linear, serpiginous, arcuate, nummular, annular or target-like. Dome-shaped, pedunculated, verrucous, umbilicated, flat-topped or acuminate. » Distribution Localized or generalized Symmetric or asymmetric Unilateral or bilateral Flexural or extensor Acral (hand, foot and nails) Cleavage plane Photodistributed, dermatomal or seborrheic » Texture and consistency Smooth or rough Firm or soft Mobile or fixed Compressible, fluctuant or sclerotic » Morphology: Basic and representative appearance of a skin lesion; primary and secondary lesions are described below.