Foods and places in dermatological terms

Foods and places in dermatological terms
Khalid Al Aboud MD¹, Khalid Al Hawasawi MD¹, V Ramesh MD¹, Daifullah Al Aboud MD², and Ahmed Al Githami MD³
Dermatology Online Journal 9(3): 24

1. Dermatology Unit, Department of MedicineKing Faisal Hospital, Taif, Saudi Arabia 2. Dermatology Unit, Department of Medicine, Jiad Hospital , Makkah , Saudi Arabia. 3. Dermatology division, Department of medicine, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Riyadh , Saudi Arabia . amoa65@hotmail.com

To the Editor

Historically, many terms in dermatology are Latin-based. However, many are descriptive and compare the clinical appearance of a condition to the appearance a known object. Futhermore, some terms are derived from an area of the world where a disease is common or where it was first described. We have collected those terms in dermatology that are linked to foods (Table I) and to geographical places(Table II).

Foods linked to dermatology[1, 2]

Apple green: birefringence of amyloidosis
Apple jelly: lupus vulgaris
Blueberry muffin: vascular anomaly
Cauliflower ear: trauma or inflammation
Cayenne pepper spots: petechial macules in pigmented purpuras
Champagne bottle (inverted): appearance of legs in motor and sensory neuropathy type 1
Framboesia (raspberry): yaws
Peau d'orange: orange-peel appearance of infiltrative conditions
Furfuraceous (branlike): scaling in tinea versicolor
Grapes and bananas: microscopy in tinea versicolor
Honey-coloured crust: impetigo
Hordeolum (barleycorn): stye
Kerion (honeycomb): tinea capitis
Lemon-on-sticks: appearance of Cushing disease
Lemon yellow: color in renal failure
Lentil: lentigo
Lobster claw: deformity in Edwards syndrome (trisomy 18)
Milium: milia
Mulberry molar: tooth of congenital syphilis
Nutmeg grater: papulation on dorsa of hands in pityriasis rubra pilaris
Ostraceous: oyster-like scales in psoriasis
Pityriasis: bran-like scaling in many dermatoses
Plucked chicken-skin: appearance of pseudoxanthoma elasticum
Port: color of urine in erythropoietic porphyria
Port-wine stain: vascular anomaly
Spaghetti and meatballs: microscopy of tinea versicolor
Strawberry, cherry: hemangioma
Salmon patch: birthmark
Tapioca pudding: vesicles in pompholyx
Tripe palms: association with acanthosis nigricans

Geographic locales in dermatology[3, 4]

Bagdad (Iraq): Bagdad boil (oriental sore)
Brazil: Brazilian blastomycosis, Brazilian pemphigus
Buruli (Uganda): Buruli ulcer
Calabar (Nigeria): Calabar swellings in loasis
Dum-Dum (Calcutta): Dum-Dum fever (kala-azar)
Ebola (river in Zaire): Ebola virus disease
Fort Bragg (North Carolina): Fort Bragg fever (Leptospira autumnalis)
Guinea (West Africa): Guinea worm (Dracuncula medinensis)
Hong Kong: Hong Kong foot (tinea pedis)
Katayama (mountain in Japan): Katayama disease (Schistosoma japonicum)
La Oroya (Peru): Oroya fever (Carrion disease)
Lyme (Connecticut): Lyme disease (tick-borne spirochete)
Madura (South India): maduramycosis
Major river systems (Japan): japanese river fever
Malaya: Malayan filariasis
Marburg (Germany): Marburg virus disease
Marseilles (South Africa): Marseilles fever (rickettsia)
Mediterranean Sea: familial Mediterranean fever
Meleda (Yugoslav island): mal de Meleda
Nairobi: Nairobi eye
Norway: norwegian or keratotic scabies
Pearl Harbor: Pearl Harbor itch
Rocky Mountains (Colorado): Colorado tick fever (rickettsia)
Rocky Mountain (North America): Rocky Mountain spotted fever (riskettsia)
San Joaquin (California): San Joaquin valley fever (coccidiomycosis)
South Africa: South African porphyria
Tangier Island: Tangier disease
Tokelau (New Zealand): Tokelau ringworm
Tulare (California): Tularemia

References

1. Bernhardt M. Archives a century ago: Key. Arch Dermatol 1999;135:1121

2. Holme SA, Varma S. Delicious dermatology! Arch Dermatol 1999;135:1121

3. Lin AN, Imaeda S. A dermatologic gazetteer. Int J Dermatol 1990;29:468-471

4. Stewart WD. Geographic dermatology. Int J Dermatol 1990;29:477-478