The lines of Blaschko on the head and neck.

Background: The system of Blaschko's lines has been insufficiently documented on the head and neck.

Objective: The aim of the study was to elaborate this pattern in a comprehensive way.

Method: One hundred eighty-six figures showing skin lesions following Blaschko's lines on the head and neck were collected from literature and patient files, transposed into drawings, and subsequently categorized according to 3 standard perspectives.

Loss of heterozygosity in human skin.

Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) is a genetic mechanism by which a heterozygous somatic cell becomes either homozygous or hemizygous because the corresponding wild-type allele is lost. LOH has today been recognized as a major cause of malignant growth. This article gives a comprehensive review of skin disorders in which an origin from LOH has been either documented at the molecular level or postulated on the basis of clinical evidence.

Type 2 segmental manifestation of multiple glomus tumors: A review and reclassification of 5 case reports.

Background: In various autosomal dominant skin disorders, segmental forms reflecting mosaicism have been reported. Recently, two different types of mosaic manifestation have been delineated. Type 1 reflects heterozygosity for the underlying mutation and shows a degree of severity as observed in the corresponding nonmosaic phenotype.

Elattoproteus syndrome: delineation of an inverse form of Proteus syndrome.

A 7-year-old boy had partial lipohypoplasia and patchy dermal hypoplasia involving large areas of his body. These areas of deficient growth were similar to those described in many cases of Proteus syndrome. Paradoxically, however, he had only few and rather mild lesions of disproportionate overgrowth.

The essence of alternative medicine. A dermatologist's view from Germany.

In Germany, alternative medicine is presently very popular and is supported by the federal government. When deliberating on the essence of alternative medicine we should simultaneously reflect on the intellectual and moral basis of regular medicine. To provide an epistemological demarcation of the 2 fields, the following 12 theses are advanced: (1) alternative and regular medicine are speaking different languages; (2) alternative medicine is not unconventional medicine; (3) the paradigm of regular medicine is rational thinking; (4) the paradigm of alternative medicine is irrational thinking; (5) the present popularity of alternative medicine can be explained by romanticism; (6) some concepts of alternative medicine are falsifiable and others are not; (7) alternative medicine and evidence-based medicine are mutually exclusive; (8) the placebo effect is an important factor in regular medicine and the exclusive therapeutic principle of alternative medicine; (9) regular and alternative medicine have different aims: coming of age vs faithfulness; (10) alternative medicine is not always safe; (11) alternative medicine is not economic; and (12) alternative medicine will always exist.

Nevus psiloliparus: a distinct fatty tissue nevus.

Background: Encephalocraniocutaneous lipomatosis is usually associated with a peculiar type of fatty tissue nevus which represents a smoothly surfaced and hairless lesion involving the scalp. This disorder has so far not been recognized as a cutaneous entity.

Objective: The purpose of this article is to describe the characteristic features of this nevus and to give it a name.

A rule concerning the segmental manifestation of autosomal dominant skin disorders. Review of clinical examples providing evidence for dichotomous types of severity.

It is well known that autosomal dominant skin disorders may sometimes become manifest in a mosaic form, involving the body in a linear, patchy, or otherwise circumscribed arrangement. Such cases can be explained by an early postzygotic mutation. The segmental lesions usually show the same degree of severity as that found in the corresponding nonmosaic trait.

Cancer proneness of linear porokeratosis may be explained by allelic loss.

Background: It is well known that porokeratosis, a genetically heterogeneous disorder characterized by the histopathological feature of the cornoid lamella, shows an increased proneness to develop carcinoma. On the other hand, a significant mechanism in the origin of many forms of cancer is loss of heterozygosity or allelic loss.

Objective: Because it has recently been proposed that linear porokeratosis may result from allelic loss, one might expect that linear porokeratosis is especially prone to malignant degeneration.

What is a nevus? A proposed definition of a common medical term.

From the study of standard textbooks of dermatology, no comprehensive understanding of the word nevus can be derived. The purpose of this article is to formulate a workable definition. As a first step, various definitions proposed by previous authors are reviewed.

Influence of ceruletid on gallbladder contraction: a possible prophylaxis of acute acalculous cholecystitis in intensive care patients?

The purpose of this study was to investigate the utility of repeated applications of ceruletid to reduce gallbladder volume and its feasibility as a means of prophylaxis of acute acalculous cholecystitis in intensive care patients. First, a dose-response curve of ceruletid was obtained in 20 mechanically ventilated patients of a surgical intensive care unit (SICU) not receiving enteral nutrition. An effective dose of ceruletid, defined by a 50% reduction of gallbladder volume was established and subsequently studied in 40 mechanically ventilated SICU patients on total parenteral nutrition in a prospective, randomized, controlled, triple-blind trial.