Degos disease or Dago disease

Cells in the linings of the walls of the medium and small veins and arteries under the skin swell when they become inflamed.

This causes the blood flow to be restricted.

Where this happens, spots (lesions) appear on the skin. They are small and red, slightly raised (we are building up a library of photos of Degos skin lesions on this web site: if you have any more photos, please let us know).

As they develop, the centre becomes dry and white (atrophic). Sometimes the spots itch.

Degos lesionsYou can see some typical lesions in the picture inset on the left and at the following site:
http://tray.dermatology.uiowa.edu/Degos01.htm

In some people, the disease stays at this stage and other symptoms do not develop. We know of one patient who was diagnosed in 1973 and is still well and working full-time.

Be aware that information on some sites is inaccurate . You will read statistics and numbers which might scare you - but they are often based on projections and on published case reports. There are lots of Degos patients whose cases haven’t been written up and who are alive and well.

There are also lots of confident assertions which just aren’t true! For example: “This disease affects mainly young men” - not in our experience! Or “The lesions don’t appear on the soles of the feet” - wrong again! Percentages and actual numbers can’t be right, as no-one has compared living patients until now. Take it all with a pinch of salt and add your experience to our site and to the data being collected in Dessau, Germany.

Our collective knowledge will make the difference between assertive inaccuracies on medical sites and clear truth on this Degos Disease site.

Most of us are leading full and normal lives. Some patients have a few lesions on the skin; others have hundreds. We don’t yet know if numbers are significant.

Sometimes the disease affects blood vessels in other parts of the body. Most commonly, the gut, the central nervous system or the eyes are involved.

Most case histories in the medical literature are of ‘worst case’ scenarios.

Detailed article about Degos Disease by Noah S Scheinfeld, MD, JD, FAAD. http://www.emedicine.com/derm/topic931.htm

Other names for Degos disease are:

* Malignant atrophic papulosis
* Köhlmeier - Degos disease
* Köhlmeier disease
* Degos - Köhlmeier disease
* Degos disease
* Degos syndrome
* Erythrokeratoderma en cocardes
* Thromboangiitis obliterans (courtesy: degosdisease.com)


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