Are You Confident of the Diagnosis? What to be alert for in the history When a patient scratches the xerotic skin, the scratching can produce red plaques with long, superficial fissures and is similar in appearance to cracked porcelain (eczema craquelé) , known as asteatotic eczema (Figure 1, Figure 2). If asteatotic eczema is not…
Are You Confident of the Diagnosis? What you should be alert for in the history Characteristic findings on physical examination While ordinary eczema has an indistinct outline, nummular eczema presents with a sharply defined coin-shaped or oval border with a clearly defined margin (Figure 1). The lesions may resemble tinea corporis in appearance. The most…
Xerosis [synonyms Dry skin] Are You Confident of the Diagnosis? Xerosis is dry skin resulting from dehydration of the stratum corneum (Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure 3). The outer keritanized skin layers require 10-20% of water by volume to compensate for evaporative loss and maintain structural integrity. Pathological loss of lipids in the stratum corneum…
