Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Prologue
- Introduction
- 1 The Case of Black Sweat
- 2 A Case of Hives That Wouldn't Go Away
- 3 The Painful Bath
- 4 A Shower of Hives
- 5 A Premenstrual Rash
- 6 Uncombable Hair
- 7 The Man Who Couldn't Sweat
- 8 Scratch Blisters
- 9 Skin Deep Photography
- 10 The Bug That Never Was
- 11 Blue Spots
- 12 White Spots
- 13 Same Place, Next Time Rash
- 14 The Brown Spots That Wouldn't Go Away
- 15 The Case of the Painful Fingertips
- 16 A Strange Sunburn
- 17 A Multiple Personality Dermatitis
- 18 Accidental Hives
- 19 Rotten Fish Odor
- 20 Hormone Blisters
- 21 Flower Shop Itch
- 22 “Stress and a Penny” Hives
- 23 The Case of Unilateral Wrinkles
- 24 Fiery Red Legs
- 25 Painful Feet
- 26 Hot Flashes and Cold Cream
- 27 The Blisters and the Skin Test
- 28 A Chilling Pain
- 29 Rough Skin and Sore Throats
- 30 The Premenstrual Purple Chin
- 31 Nine Year Hives
- 32 Golf Course Dermatitis
- 33 The Secret Message
- 34 Herpes Gladiatorum
- 35 Sunshine Allergy
- 36 L'homme Rouge
- 37 Rings of Rash
- 38 The Breasts That Never Stopped Growing
- 39 The Minister's Hives
- 40 Hardened Skin
- 41 Battery Blisters
- 42 Swollen Lips
- 43 The Worm from Outer Space
- 44 A New Light on Psoriasis
- 45 Black and Blue Spots
- 46 The Emergency Room Itch
- 47 The Sleeper
- 48 A Crazy Rash
- 49 Bald Spots
- 50 The Dog Died
- 51 The Abacus Tumor
- 52 No Spit
- 53 The Smell of Burnt Toast
- 54 The Twenty-Three Year Itch
- 55 The Mysterious Treatment
- 56 The Creeping Acne Cyst
- 57 Our First Case
- 58 A Strange Case of Acne
- 59 The Case of the Glass Eye
- 60 The Hand Eczema Caper
- 61 The Sore That Would Never Heal
- 62 Black Blisters
- References
- Index
59 - The Case of the Glass Eye
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 November 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Prologue
- Introduction
- 1 The Case of Black Sweat
- 2 A Case of Hives That Wouldn't Go Away
- 3 The Painful Bath
- 4 A Shower of Hives
- 5 A Premenstrual Rash
- 6 Uncombable Hair
- 7 The Man Who Couldn't Sweat
- 8 Scratch Blisters
- 9 Skin Deep Photography
- 10 The Bug That Never Was
- 11 Blue Spots
- 12 White Spots
- 13 Same Place, Next Time Rash
- 14 The Brown Spots That Wouldn't Go Away
- 15 The Case of the Painful Fingertips
- 16 A Strange Sunburn
- 17 A Multiple Personality Dermatitis
- 18 Accidental Hives
- 19 Rotten Fish Odor
- 20 Hormone Blisters
- 21 Flower Shop Itch
- 22 “Stress and a Penny” Hives
- 23 The Case of Unilateral Wrinkles
- 24 Fiery Red Legs
- 25 Painful Feet
- 26 Hot Flashes and Cold Cream
- 27 The Blisters and the Skin Test
- 28 A Chilling Pain
- 29 Rough Skin and Sore Throats
- 30 The Premenstrual Purple Chin
- 31 Nine Year Hives
- 32 Golf Course Dermatitis
- 33 The Secret Message
- 34 Herpes Gladiatorum
- 35 Sunshine Allergy
- 36 L'homme Rouge
- 37 Rings of Rash
- 38 The Breasts That Never Stopped Growing
- 39 The Minister's Hives
- 40 Hardened Skin
- 41 Battery Blisters
- 42 Swollen Lips
- 43 The Worm from Outer Space
- 44 A New Light on Psoriasis
- 45 Black and Blue Spots
- 46 The Emergency Room Itch
- 47 The Sleeper
- 48 A Crazy Rash
- 49 Bald Spots
- 50 The Dog Died
- 51 The Abacus Tumor
- 52 No Spit
- 53 The Smell of Burnt Toast
- 54 The Twenty-Three Year Itch
- 55 The Mysterious Treatment
- 56 The Creeping Acne Cyst
- 57 Our First Case
- 58 A Strange Case of Acne
- 59 The Case of the Glass Eye
- 60 The Hand Eczema Caper
- 61 The Sore That Would Never Heal
- 62 Black Blisters
- References
- Index
Summary
“It's my right cheek. It burns and oozes,” a twenty-eight-year-old woman told us. It had been that way for months. Cortisone had given some temporary help, but antibiotics were ineffectual.
What we saw was a weeping dermatitis extending downward from her right lower eyelid to the medial right cheek. The left cheek and her skin elsewhere were completely normal. Her past history was unremarkable, except for the loss of her right eye five years ago following an accident. The eye had been surgically enucleated and she wore a prosthesis.
We puzzled over the cause of her dermatitis, so localized to the right cheek. We eliminated the possibility of unilateral rosacea, because the eruption was too eczematous. Could she be allergic to a salve she was applying? We knew that some people even become allergic to the hydrocortisone in healing creams sold over the counter. A trial of complete avoidance of topical measures, soaps, and sprays had no effect. Could it be due to an underlying sinusitis of just that side? It seemed unlikely, because x-rays failed to reveal any sinusitis.
The most likely diagnosis was infectious eczematoid dermatitis, a condition in which chronic purulent drainage produces a band of acute dermatitis in the drainage area. We had seen it in patients with a chronic draining ear infection, in the form of an eczematous band on the face below the infected ear. Yes, our patient did have some drainage from the right eye socket, but it was not purulent.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Consultations in DermatologyStudies of Orphan and Unique Patients, pp. 181 - 183Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2006