Physical abuse of the elderly.

Physical abuse of the elderly is a frequent occurrence within the older population. For many reasons, including lack of recognition for the entity in the medical literature, physical abuse of the elderly is difficult to recognize. The injuries of physical abuse may be nondescript, but patterned injuries, injuries in unusual anatomic locations and injuries in various stages of healing should alert the practicing physician to the possibility of physical abuse of the elderly.

Bullous dermatosis of hemodialysis.

Bullous dermatosis of hemodialysis (BDH), first described in 1975, is characterized by porphyrialike blisters on sun-exposed parts of the scalp, face, arms, and hands. Four patients with BDH are presented. In two of these patients the deliberate lowering of their serum iron levels led to improvement of the condition.