- A dictionary of medical eponyms

Hutchinson's freckle

Related people

A precancerous condition occurring chiefly during middle and old age. The typical lesions start on the facial skin as a small dark brown or sepia spot. Among various macules there may be simultaneous expansion and regression, but eventually they coalesce to form irregular pigmented areas, often reaching 10 cm in diameter. Thickening, induration, papules, verrucae, and ulceration signal the onset of malignancy. The average period from onset to development of aggressive, malignant melanoma is about 10 years.

See also Boeck's sarcoid, or benign lymphogranulomatosis, under Cæsar Peter Møller Boeck, Norwegian dermatologist, 1845-1917.

Bibliography

  • J. Hutchinson:
    Senile freckle with deep staining - a superficial epithelioma of the cheek.
    Archives of Surgery, London, 1892, 3: 159.
  • M. W. Dubreuilh:
    De la mélanose circonscrite précancéreuse.
    Annales de dermatologie et de syphilographie, Paris, 1912, 3: 129-51, 205-230.

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