What You Should Know About Porokeratosis
Porokeratosis has several names that are associated with it. These include senile keratosis, senile warts, seborrheic verruca, barnacles, brown warts, and basal cell papilloma. It is a clonal keratinization disorder, which manifests as a cornoid lamella. A cornoid lamella is composed of closely stacked parakeratotic cells that extend throughout the stratum corneum.
Five variants of this keratinization disorder exist. To enumerate these variants, they are: punctate porokeratosis, disseminated superficial actinic porokeratosis, classic porokeratosis of Mibelli, porokeratosis palmaris et plantaris disseminate, as well as linear porokeratosis. Among the five variants, disseminated superficial actinic porokeratosis is fairly widespread in the United States. The remaining four variations are rarer in occurrence.
Fair-skinned individuals are the most at risk to porokeratosis. In fact, the disorder is not often seen among darker-skinned individuals.
Porokeratosis palmaris et plantaris disseminate as well as classic porokeratosis of Mibelli occur twice as much in men than in women. As for disseminated superficial actinic porokeratosis, it occurs three times as much in females in comparison to males. In the case of linear porokeratosis, on the other hand, it appears in proportional numbers between men and women.
In terms of age, porokeratosis palmaris et plantaris disseminate and linear porokeratosis can both become visible at any given age. For classic porokeratosis of Mibelli, it often first appears during the patient’s childhood. People afflicted with disseminated superficial actinic porokeratosis usually fall within the 30-40 age bracket.
Why does porokeratosis happen? It can be caused by any of the following: immunosuppression, therapeutic phototherapy or photochemotherapy for psoriasis, sun exposure, genetic inheritance, radiation therapy, and ultraviolet light exposure. There has also been a study that revealed that of all renal transplant patients, 10 percent afterwards had porokeratosis.
Patients of porokeratosis have to make sure that they avoid any unnecessary exposure to the sun. They should apply sunblock and wear protective clothing.
Porokeratosis treatment can be done through many ways. Treatment for this disorder must be individualized. Doctors base the kind of treatment on the patient’s preference, the functional and aesthetic considerations, the size of the lesion, the lesion’s anatomical location, and the risk of malignancy.
For many people affected by porokeratosis, appropriate protection from the sun and the regular use of emollients may be all that is necessary, or a topical cream containing 5-fluorouracil. For their own sake, patients must also observe if malignant degeneration develops.
Surgical care is yet one more example of a porokeratosis treatment method. Surgery is necessary for lesions that have become malignant over time. In the case of malignant degeneration, the best way to deal with them is excision. Last but not the least, porokeratosis may also be treated using curettage, diamond fraise dermabrasion, laser therapy, electrodesiccation, and cryotherapy.
