Dermatitis Neglecta: An oft Missed Diagnosis

Abstract

Dermatitis neglecta, also known as ‘dirty dermatosis’ or ‘unwashed dermatosis’ is an uncommon yet noteworthy entity as it can be easily misdiagnosed for many other dermatoses [1]. This entity was first reported by Poskitt L, et al. [2]. The probable cause is lack of proper cleansing of skin leading to accumulation of sweat, sebum, and exfoliated corneocytes with growth of micro-organisms. This results in formation of a layer of adherent scale crust over the affected part [3]. In some patients underlying disorders like psychiatric illness [4] or neurological diseases [5] have been described. Clinical presentation is in the form of hyperkeratotic verrucous plaques mimicking a variety of specific dermatoses like seborrheic dermatitis, pemphigus foliaceous, verrucous epidermal naevus, darier’s disease and terra firma forme dermatoses [4].