Anatomy: Disorders of the Skin

A genetic switch turns on graying hair in response to _______

Age

Acne is an infection of the __________ glands.

sebaceous

After an explosion during a fireworks show, a number of people arrive at the emergency room with burns to their skin. You and a colleague are assessing patients to determine who needs assistance first. Evaluate the signs and symptoms of the following patients and determine whose burn is the most severe.

Patient C has blanched or blackened burned skin.

Aileen's grandmother has a mole on her scalp with bluish-black colorations and irregular borders. She dismisses it as a squamous cell carcinoma and predicts her dermatologist will freeze it off like the ones she's had previously. Aileen disagrees and believes it's a melanoma. Recommend an additional sign or symptom that will support a melanoma diagnosis.

Size of the lesion

Vitiligo is a skin disorder characterized by the loss of skin pigmentation. Evaluate the following findings from various skin slides (from arm skin), and select the sample from a patient with vitiligo.

Slide B had no melanin present in the epidermis.

Smoking and sunlight contribute to the loss of elasticity in the skin as we age.

True

Squamous cell carcinoma arises from cells of the stratum spinosum.

True

The rule of nines is used to estimate how much of the body surface is burned.

True

Which of the following conditions is most likely to result in permanent hair loss?

a family history of baldness

Which of the following is an indication of melanoma?

a pigmented spot that contains areas of different colors

There are three types of skin cancers. Which one(s) are derived from epithelial cells of the epidermis?

both types of carcinoma (basal cell and squamous cell)

What type of burn only involves injury to the superficial epidermis?

first degree

Which of the following abnormal skin colors results from liver disorders?

jaundice

Which effect of aging is accelerated by smoking and sun exposure?

loss of skin elasticity

Your 70-year-old grandfather shows signs of loss of hair and some baldness. What age-related disorder do you suspect is the cause?

male pattern baldness

What skin disorder is recognized using the ABCDE rule?

melanoma

Which type of skin cancer the least common but is the cause of most skin-cancer-related deaths?

melanoma

What type of burn damages the skin so severely that regeneration of the damaged tissue is NOT possible?

third degree burn

How is the rule of nines used by a clinician?

to estimate fluid lost by the body by determining the extent of burns

A physician estimates the volume of fluid lost in a severely burned patient by ________.

using the "rule of nines"

The white, cheesy-looking substance that is produced by the sebaceous glands and protects a baby's skin while it is floating in its water-filled sac inside the mother is called ________.

vernix caseosa

Which of the following is the least malignant and most common skin cancer that affects the cells of stratum basale?

Basal cell carcinoma

A nurse tends to a patient with a sunburn. Upon examination, she sees blisters and red, swollen skin. The patient complains of pain. What feature of this burn distinguishes it from a first-degree burn?

Blisters

Which of the following letters in the ABCDE rule for recognizing melanomas is incorrect?

D stands for diagnosis

Joe just burned his hand on a hot pot. A blister forms and the burn is painful; Joe's burn would best be described as a third-degree, or full-thickness, burn.

False

The ABCDE rule is used for classifying burns.

False

The Staphylococcus infection of the skin that causes pink, water-filled, raised lesions is known as ________.

Impetigo

Mountain climbers frequently experience a bluing of the skin at elevations above 2,500 meters. This bluing of the skin is known as __________.

cyanosis