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Acne Vulgaris

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Dermatology in Public Health Environments

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Abstract

Acne vulgaris is a common and chronic inflammatory disease with a complex pathophysiology, including increased sebum production, follicular hyperkeratinization, bacterial colonization, inflammation, as well as hormonal involvement and genetic association with diet and smoking. The clinical picture consists of inflammatory and noninflammatory lesions mainly on the face and upper trunk that may progress to scarring. Topical and/or systemic treatment should be initiated early with a prolonged course, and also requires good patient compliance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Service of Dermatology of the Pontifical Catholic, University of Campinas (PUC-Campinas), Campinas, SP, Brazil

    Marina de Almeida Delatti, Elisa Moraes & Marcel dos Santos

  2. Hospital e Maternidade Celso Pierro – PUC Campinas, Campinas, Brazil

    Renan Lage

  3. ABC School of Medicine, Santo Andre, SP, Brazil

    Beatrice Abdalla

  4. State Public Workers Welfare Institute, São Paulo, Brazil

    Adilson Costa

Authors
  1. Marina de Almeida Delatti
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  2. Renan Lage
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  3. Elisa Moraes
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  4. Beatrice Abdalla
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  5. Marcel dos Santos
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  6. Adilson Costa
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Adilson Costa .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dermatology Service of Clinical, Hospital of Porto Alegre, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil

    Renan Rangel Bonamigo

  2. Health Secretary of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

    Sergio Ivan Torres Dornelles

Glossary

Comedo

A hair follicle infundibulum that is dilated and plugged by keratin and lipids. The lesion is referred to as an open comedo when the pilosebaceous unit is open to the surface of the skin with a visible keratinaceous plug. A closed comedo occurs when the follicular opening is unapparent and accumulates whitish keratin.

Cyst

An encapsulated cavity or sac lined with a true epithelium that contains fluid or semisolid material (cells and cell products such as keratin).

Nodule

A solid round or ellipsoidal, palpable lesion of diameter larger than 0.5 cm. Depth of involvement and/or substantive palpability, rather than diameter, differentiates a nodule from a large papule or plaque. Nodules are of five main types: epidermal, epidermal-dermal, dermal, dermal-subdermal, and subcutaneous.

Papule

A solid, elevated lesion less than 0.5 cm in size in which a significant portion projects above the plane of the surrounding skin.

Pustule

A circumscribed, raised cavity in the epidermis or infundibulum containing pus; may contain bacteria or be sterile. Pustules may vary in size and, in certain situations, may coalesce to form lakes of pus.

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de Almeida Delatti, M., Lage, R., Moraes, E., Abdalla, B., dos Santos, M., Costa, A. (2018). Acne Vulgaris. In: Bonamigo, R., Dornelles, S. (eds) Dermatology in Public Health Environments. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33919-1_21

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