CUTIS VERTICIS GYRATA

Abstract

Since Unna, 1 in 1907, introduced the name of cutis verticis gyrata to indicate that peculiar fold and furrow formation seen in certain scalps, there have been one hundred and fifty-eight cases of the condition reported by eighty-seven authors. Jadassohn, 2 a year earlier, presented a case at the Ninth Congress of Dermatologists in Bern, and he is credited with being the first to bring this disease to the attention of dermatologists. Neuropsychiatrists, however, were acquainted with the condition at an earlier date. In 1893, McDowall, 3 for instance, described, with illustrations, a case in an epileptic microcephalic idiot, and Cowan 4 in the same year recorded two similarly abnormal scalps in idiots. A perusal of the earlier case reports discloses a great diversity of opinion regarding the etiology of this disease. Those authors who believe it to be due wholly or in part to inflammatory changes include von Veress,