Misnomers in dermatology: Time to change and update.

Most of the misnomers encountered in dermatology have arisen from lack of understanding of the underlying etiopathogenesis, histopathology and/or concepts. Some misnomers are due to imprecise translations from word of origin, etymological bungles and/or factual errors. It is very important for the residents and practitioners of dermatology to update and change the old misnomers with relevant names to avoid confusion and misunderstanding. In this article, we have listed all the misnomers in dermatology and suggested the appropriate names as indicated.

Efficacy and safety of Erbium-doped Yttrium Aluminium Garnet fractional resurfacing laser for treatment of facial acne scars.

Background: Treatment of acne scars with ablative fractional laser resurfacing has given good improvement. But, data on Indian skin are limited. A study comparing qualitative, quantitative, and subjective assessments is also lacking. Aim: Our aim was to assess the improvement of facial acne scars with Erbium-doped Yttrium Aluminium Garnet (Er:YAG) 2940 nm fractional laser resurfacing and its adverse effects in 25 patients at a tertiary care teaching hospital. Methods: All 25 patients received four treatment sessions with Er:YAG fractional laser at 1-month interval. The laser parameters were kept constant for each of the four sittings in all patients. Qualitative and quantitative assessments were done using Goodman and Barron grading. Subjective assessment in percentage of improvement was also documented 1 month after each session. Photographs were taken before each treatment session and 1 month after the final session. Two unbiased dermatologists performed independent clinical assessments by comparing the photographs. The kappa statistics was used to monitor the agreement between the dermatologists and patients. Results: Most patients (96%) showed atleast fair improvement. Rolling and superficial box scars showed higher significant improvement when compared with ice pick and deep box scars. Patient's satisfaction of improvement was higher when compared to physician's observations. No serious adverse effects were noted with exacerbation of acne lesions forming the majority. Conclusion: Ablative fractional photothermolysis is both effective and safe treatment for atrophic acne scars in Indian skin.Precise evaluation of acne scar treatment can be done by taking consistent digital photographs.

"Pseudo" conditions in dermatology: Need to know both real and unreal.

There are 'n' number of names and terminologies in dermatology. The real and unreal names lead to lot of confusion to the residents and practitioners of dermatology. The word 'pseudo' means 'unreal', 'false' or 'fake', and it has deep roots in dermatology providing herculean task to differentiate and understand the real conditions/diseases/signs in dermatology. We have made an attempt to list and describe the pseudo and associated real conditions in dermatology.

Cutaneous metastases from carcinoma breast: The common and the rare.

Cancer metastasis is quite devastating to the patient as well as the physician and may herald the onset, dissemination or recurrence of malignancy. Breast carcinoma metastasis is the most common carcinoma encountered by dermatologists and it presents in various morphological and histological forms. Here, we present two varied cases, the first being the common nodular metastasis from a previously treated intraductal carcinoma and the second, the rarer variant, carcinoma erysipeloides as a heralder of the invasion of an incompletely treated disease.