Overview

Dowling-Degos disease is a skin condition characterized by a lacy or net-like (reticulate) pattern of abnormally dark skin coloring (hyperpigmentation), particularly in the body's folds and creases. Other features may include dark lesions on the face and back that resemble blackheads, red bumps around the mouth that resemble acne, depressed or pitted scars on the face similar to acne scars but with no history of acne, cysts within hair follicles (pilar cysts) on the scalp, and rarely, patches of skin that are unusually light in color (hypopigmented). Symptoms typically develop in late childhood or in adolescence and progress over time. While the skin changes caused by Dowling-Degos disease can be bothersome, they typically don't cause health problems. Dowling-Degos disease is caused by mutations in the KRT5 gene. This condition is inherited in an autosomal dominant pattern.[1]

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Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) is a catalog of human genes and genetic disorders. Each entry has a summary of related medical articles. It is meant for health care professionals and researchers. OMIM is maintained by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

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