Dermatitis, Seborrheic was found in 5-Minute Clinical Consult which helps you diagnose, treat, and follow up on over 900 medical conditions seen in everyday practice.
To view this entire topic, please sign in or purchase a subscription.
Explore 5-Minute Clinical Consult - view these FREE monographs:
-- The first section of this topic is shown below --
Basics
Description
Chronic, superficial, recurrent inflammatory rash affecting sebum-rich, hairy regions of the body, especially scalp, eyebrows, and face
Epidemiology
Incidence
- Predominant age: Infancy, adolescence, and adulthood
- Predominant sex: Male > Female
Prevalence
Seborrheic dermatitis: 3–5%
Risk Factors
- Parkinson disease
- AIDS (disease severity correlated with progression of immune deficiency)
- Emotional stress
- Medications may flare/induce seborrheic dermatitis: Auranofin, aurothioglucose, buspirone, chlorpromazine, cimetidine, ethionamide, gold, griseofulvin, haloperidol, interferon-α, lithium, methoxsalen, methyldopa, phenothiazine, psoralen, stanozolol, thiothixene, trioxsalen
Genetics
Positive family history; no genetic marker identified to date
General Prevention
Seborrheic skin should be washed more often than usual.
Pathophysiology
Helper T cells, phytohemagglutinin and concanavalin stimulation, and antibody titers are depressed compared with those of control subjects.
Etiology
- Skin surface yeasts Malassezia (formerly Plasmodium ovale) may be a contributing factor (1,2,3)
- Malassezia spp. may have a role in T-cell suppression and complement activation.
- The mite Demodex folliculorum may have a direct/indirect role.
- Genetic and environmental factors: Flares are common with stress/illness.
- Parallels increased sebaceous gland activity in infancy and adolescence or as a result of some acnegenic drugs
Commonly Associated Conditions
- Parkinson disease
- AIDS
-- To view the remaining sections of this topic, please sign in or purchase a subscription --
