Diogenes syndrome in a patient suffering from neurodegenerative disease

ABSTRACT

Discontinuation of the normal skin cleansing in geriatric or self-neglected patients can result in accumulation of keratinous scales, crusts on the skin and its most severe form has been named as Diogenes syndrome. The usual affected sites are upper central chest, back and the groins. These patients may have psychiatric or mood disorders or temporofrontal dementia. Alcohol abuse is a co-factor. Subjects are mainly the elderly, but a few cases in younger age group of patients have also been recorded who showed lesions on the scalp, face or arms. We report a case of Diogenes syndrome in a 20-year-old girl who was suffering from familial neurodegenerative disease