Intro to Dermatology Terms

Question 1

A flat, circumscribed region of skin with a different color or texture is called what?

what is it called if it’s larger than 1 cm?

Answer 1

macule

a patch

Question 2

What is a common example of a macule?

What is a common example of a patch?

Answer 2

freckles are macules

vitiligo has patches

Question 3

What do you call a palpable, circumscribed change in consistency of contour of the skin?

what if it’s larger than 1 cm?

what if it’s significantly larger than 1 cm?

Answer 3

papule

over 1cm = nodule

waaay over 1 cm = tumor

Question 4

What do you call a coalescence of papules?

Question 5

What do you call an encapsulated nodule filled with soft meterial?

Answer 5

a cyst

Question 6

What do you called a circumscribe, clear fluid-filled lesion like a blister?

what if it’s very large?

what if it’s filled with inflammatory cells?

Answer 6

a vesicle

a very large vesicle = bulla

with pus = pustule

Question 7

Describe what a wheal looks like.

Answer 7

It’s a palpable, circumscribed area of edema with central pallor and peripheral edema

they’re also called urticaria or hives

they usually disappear relatively quickly

Question 8

What do you call discoloration of the skin due to the presence of blood in the tissue, outside of blood vessels?

what if it’s a small punctate region of this?

Answer 8

purpura

petechiae

Question 9

What is purpura usually caused by?

Answer 9

vasculitis, or inflammation of the blood vessels

it won’t blanch when you push on it

Question 10

What do we call a plug within a hair follicle canal composed of keratin and sebum?

Answer 10

a comedo

think acne - white heads and black heads

Question 11

What do we call a white papule composed of whorls of keratinized epidermal cells beneath the skin surface - usually on the eyelids?

Answer 11

milium

Question 12

What is a burrow?

Answer 12

a horizontal tunnel in the stratum corneum which is produced by a parasite like scabies

Question 13

What is a scaly lesion characterized by?

Answer 13

exfolitaiton of surface keratin cells - like in psoriasis

Question 14

What is the adjective used when a lesion has very thick scales?

Answer 14

hyperkeratotic

Question 15

What does a crusted lesion have?

Answer 15

it will display dried exudate of fluid and/or cellular components on the skin surface

Question 16

What does an eroded lesion have?

Answer 16

it will show a superficial defect in the skin surface which won’t penetrate through the epidermis - like an abrasion

Question 17

What will an ulcerated lesion have?

Answer 17

a skin defect that DOES penetrate through the epidermis

Question 18

What will an excoriated lesion have? what’s it from?

Answer 18

An excoriated lesion will be eroded or ulcerated in a linear fashion, due to scratching

Question 19

What will a fissured lesion have?

Answer 19

a horizontal split in the skin

Question 20

What does lichenified mean?

Answer 20

it’s an area of skin that shows thickening with accentuation of the normal skin markings - usually a sign of chronicity associated with scraching or rubbing

Question 21

What does verrucous mean?

Answer 21

it’s an area of skin that is characterized by velvety or roughened wart-like changes

Question 22

What does telengiectatic mean?

Answer 22

it’s when an area of skin shows dilated small arterioles or capillaries coursing parallel to the skin surface - this is permanent

Question 23

What do you call it when the skin is emaciated or thinned, as in striae?

Answer 23

atrophic

Question 24

What do we call epidermal hyperplasia?

Answer 24

acanthosis

Question 25

What do we call separation of keratinocytes due to loss of intercellular attachments - desmosomes?

Answer 25

acanhtolysis

Question 26

What is a linear, non-nested proliferation of melanocytes along the basal layer called?

Answer 26

lentiginous

Question 27

What do we call it when there is a retention of nuclei within the keratinocytes of the stratum corneum?

Answer 27

parakeratosis