White sponge nevus (WSN) is a rare hereditary dyskeratotic hyperplasia of mucous membranes. It is an autosomal dominant disorder with variable penetrance. We report a case of WSN in a healthy 21-year-old male with no history of familial involvement. A white smooth plaque with no erythema or other structural abnormalities was observed, which confirmed the diagnosis of WSN histopathologically.

Olmsted syndrome (OS) is a rare genodermatosis classically characterized by the combination of bilateral mutilating transgredient palmoplantar keratoderma (PPK) and periorificial keratotic plaques, but which shows considerable clinical heterogeneity. The disease starts usually at birth or in early childhood. About 73 cases have been reported worldwide. OS is observed in both sexes, although mal...

Tylosis (hyperkeratosis palmaris et plantaris) is characterised by focal thickening of the skin of the hands and feet and is associated with a very high lifetime risk of developing squamous cell carcinoma of the oesophagus. This risk has been calculated to be 95% at the age of 65 in one large family, however the frequency of the disorder in the general population is not known and is likely to b...

Homer Smith died in 1962, the year before I started my career in the Department of Physiology of the University of Goettingen. At that time, his original work was still well known and widely quoted. Several decades later, this has of course changed, and the newer generation of renal physiologists and nephrologists is often unaware of who Homer Smith was and what he did. This is not totally surp...

More than 60 years later, Hebb's prophecy " neurons that fire together wire together " (Hebb, 1949; Shatz, 1992) prevails as one of the cornerstones of modern neuroscience. Nonetheless, it is becoming increasingly evident that there is more to neural plasticity than the strengthening of synapses between co-active neurons. Experiments have revealed a plethora of synaptic and cellular plasticity ...

White sponge nevus (WSN) is a rare oral mucosal lesion first described by Cannon in 1935, characterized as benign leukokeratotic lesion of early onset with periods of remission and exacerbation. It is usually asymptomatic, although pruritus, burning, and pain have been reported following irritating stimuli.WSN is inherited as an autosomal dominant trait with wide variability of expression and h...

ZinsserCole-Engman syndrome, also known as dyskeratosis congenita, is a rare genetic disorder characterized by triad of pigmentation and atrophy of the skin, leukokeratoses of oral mucosa and nail dystrophy along with bone marrow failure and predisposition to cancer [1]. The condition can be inherited as autosomal recessive, autosomal dominant and rarely X linked. It is proposed that mutations ...

Dear Editor, Pachyonychia congenita (PC) is an ultra-rare hereditary skin disorder primarily characterized by severe, painful and highly debilitating plantar keratoderma, variable hypertrophic nail dystrophy, epidermal cysts, leukokeratosis and other features. PC is caused by heterozygous dominant-negative mutations in any one of five keratin genes, KRT6A, KRT6B, KRT6C, KRT16 or KRT17 (encoding...

Dear Editor, Clouston syndrome, also called hidrotic ectodermal dysplasia (HED), is an autosomal dominant ectodermal dysplasia characterized by a clinical triad of onychodystrophy, generalized hypotrichosis, and palmoplantar keratoderma (1). Herein we report the case of a 24-year-old male with the distinctive clinical triad associated with multiple epidermoid cysts, which probably reflects the ...

There are key differences between mind–body medicine and alternative medicine. A central tenet of mind–body medicine is the recognition that the mind plays a key role in health and that any presumed separation of mind and body is false. Alternative medicine, however, does not focus on the role of thoughts and emotions in health and, therefore, is separate from mind–body medicine. Also, while th...