Dermatology signs

Eponymous signs in dermatology - Albright's dimple sign

This is seen in Albright's hereditary osteodystrophy in which there is presence of a dimple over the knuckle of the typically affected fourth metacarpal and can be enhanced by clenching of the fist.[3,4]

Antenna sign

It is seen in keratosis pilaris in which individual follicles show a long strand of keratin glinting when examined in tangentially incident light.[5]

Asboe-Hansen sign (Blister spread sign)

Gustav Asboe Hansen first described it in 1960, when he demonstrated enlargement of bulla by applying finger pressure to small, intact, and tense bulla in patients with pemphigus and bullous pemphigoid.[6] In the traditional bulla spread sign, pressure is applied to the blister from one side, whereas in eliciting Asboe-Hansen sign pressure is applied at the center of the blister and perpendicular to the surface due to smaller size of the lesion.

Auspitz sign

It is a celebrated sign of dermatology named after Heinrich Auspitz, described in psoriasis, where there is pinpoint bleeding on removal of scales from the lesions of psoriasis. The test by which Auspitz sign is elicited is called as Grattage test. Other dermatoses where Auspitz sign can be positive is Darier's disease and actinic keratosis.[7]

Barnett's sign (scleroderma neck sign)

It is ridging and tightening of the skin of the neck on extending the head with a visible and palpable tight band over platysma in the hyperextended neck.[8,9]

Branham's sign (Nicoladoni sign)

It is to be elicited in cases of arterio-venous fistula where there is slowing of the heart rate in response to (manual) compression.[10]

“Breakfast, lunch, and dinner” sign

The bites of bed bugs (Cimex lectularius) usually follow a linear pathway in a group of three to five blood meals and are often referred to as “Breakfast, lunch, and dinner” or “Breakfast, lunch, and supper” sign.[11]

Buschke-Ollendorff sign

This is a sign to be elicited in case of secondary syphilis and cutaneous vasculitis, where there is deep dermal tenderness on pressing the lesion (e.g., papular lesions of syphilis) with a pinhead.[12]

Butterfly sign

This refers to sparing of the mid scapular region in patients having prurigo nodularis with neurodermatitis as they are unable to reach the region for scratching.[13]

Buttonhole sign

In type 1 neurofibromatosis (Von-Recklinghausen's disease), neurofibromas can be invaginated with the tip of index finger back into the subcutis and again reappear after release of pressure.[14] Other condition where one can find positive buttonhole sign are anetoderma and dermatofibroma.

Carpet tack sign (Tin tack sign, Cat tongue sign)

When the adherent scale is removed from the lesions of discoid lupus erythematosus, the undersurface of the scale shows horny plugs that have occupied patulous hair follicles. This sign is also seen in seborrheic dermatitis.[7]

Chagas–Mazza–Romaña's sign

In about eighty percent of cases of Chagas’ disease (American trypanosomiasis), conjunctiva is the portal of entry for Trypanosoma Cruzi. Unilateral swelling of eyelids and orbit after conjunctival inoculation is called as eye-sign or Chagas–Mazza–Romaña's sign or Romaña's sign.[15]

Coral bead sign

Papules seen around the nail fold in multicentric reticulohistiocytosis are called as coral bead sign.[16]

Coudability sign

It was first described by Shuster in cases of alopecia areata in 1984. Coudability sign is normal-looking hairs tapered at the proximal end in the perilesional hair-bearing scalp and can easily be made to kink when bent or pushed inward.[17]

Crowe's sign

Axillary freckling seen in type I neurofibromatosis is known as Crowe's sign.[18] (See also Patrick Yesudian sign)

Cullen's sign

Periumbilical ecchymosis in cases of acute hemorrhagic pancreatitis and ruptured ectopic pregnancy is termed Cullen's sign. Similar changes in the flank is called as Grey-Turner sign.[19]

Deck-chair sign

It was classically described in Papulo-erythroderma of Ofuji, wherein there is flat-topped red papules that become generalized erythrodermic p