A plea to expunge the word “eczema” from the lexicon of dermatology and dermatopathology

“Eczema is any non-contagious eruption of small vesicles”. Willan (1817) “Eczema is that which looks like eczema”. Hebra, Kaposi (1874) “The definition of eczema depends to a large extent on a particular school of dermatology and the concept of individual dermatologist”. Sulzberger, Wolf (1952) “The word ‘eczema’ has never been successfully defined...” Pillsbury (1952) “Eczema is a dermatitis of an indetermined cause, whereas dermatitis always has a cause”. Sutton (1956) “Eczema is a self-perpetuating process in which itching necessitates scratching”. Bobroff (1962) “Eczema is not a disease, but a characteristic inflammatory response of the skin to multiple stimuli”. Soter and Fitzpatrick (1971) “The term eczema and dermatitis are used by many dermatologists as synonyms”. Lever (1977)

Summary

Despite its common use for centuries, the term “eczema” has never been defined in a repeatable way. Although there have been innumerable attempts to do that, the word eczema still lacks specific meaning. Dermatology and dermatopathology will come of age when the word eczema is no longer used.

Zusammenfassung

Der Ausdruck “Ekzem” ist trotz des sehr häufigen Gebrauchs über viele Jahrhunderte nie in einer reproduzierbaren Weise erklärt worden. Obwohl unzählige Definitionen versucht wurden, kommt dem Wort Ekzem keine spezifische Bedeutung zu. Es wird der Zeitpunkt kommen, an dem in der Dermatologie und der Dermatohistopathologie der Ausdruck Ekzem nicht mehr benutzt wird.