funDERMentals

Obesity, Scales, and a Sweaty Situation

Author and Disclosure Information

 

A 67-year-old Asian woman presents with changes under her breasts that manifested several years ago and are slowly becoming more pronounced. Occasionally itchy, the skin is always hot and sweaty. This problem has been treated numerous times over the years with oral and topical antiyeast preparations, to no good effect. She is currently on fluconazole oral.

Aside from obesity, she claims that her only other health problem is “skin rashes” on her arms and scalp, which have persisted for years. Cursory examination of her chart, however, reveals that she also has type 2 diabetes and dementia.

EXAMINATION
The patient is 5 feet tall and weighs 240 lb. She has type II skin with classic Asian coloring. The skin under her breasts is bright pink, with focal areas of dark brown. The affected area extends downward onto her upper abdomen. The surface of the rash is totally macular, with no palpable component.

On both extensor forearms, a scaly, pink rash is seen, covered with thick, white scales. Likewise, on her scalp, particularly above and behind the ears, there are large patches of white scaling with underlying pink skin.

What is the diagnosis?

Pages

Next Article: