The red face: Commentary

Abstract

Aesthetics frequently determines first impressions. 1 A person with a red face often becomes a victim of this clinical state, harboring deep consternation. Because the red face may be the result of a variety of physiologic or pathologic changes, this issue of Clinics in Dermatology is devoted to diagnosing and treating patients who seek advice for this fascinating dermatologic problem. The aim, therefore, is to provide a comprehensive review of the inflammatory and even neoplastic conditions that focus on the face. Initially, this issue seemed quite simple to develop; however, the number of entities involving the red face became so cumbersome that I needed to be selective. As a result, diseases in which the red face may not predominate are not emphasized in this symposium. Acne, sarcoidosis, tuberculosis, and impetigo are not presented in separate articles, so that more attention can be extended to other dermatitides. The red face has perplexed humans throughout the ages, as Crissey and Parish point out. The problem has afflicted animals as well. Fondati calls attention to the various problems in dogs and cats with red faces. In an exhaustive review, Wilkin examines flushing, “a transient reddening of the face.” Articles follow on rosacea, seborrheic dermatitis, and atopic dermatitis, the last written by a physician who has suffered from this allergic disorder. Connective tissue diseases are presented by the American group on dermatomyositis and the Warsaw group on lupus erythematosus. Jung discusses the genodermatoses aggravated by sunlight, and Andreassi and Flori detail the problems created by physical insults to the face. Additional articles are devoted to the contact dermatitides, some of which are exacerbated by light, following which the workers from the Photobiology Unit at St. John's in London discuss chronic actinic dermatitis. Although more infectious processes are not emphasized in this issue, erysipelas is so significant that Grosshans was asked to develop this discussion. Concluding articles include drug reactions by Feiner and Ledesma and lymphomas by the Newark, New Jersey, group. An atlas is included to assist in making differential diagnoses. The red face continues to be a significant part of dermatologie practice. It deserves much more attention than it has received in the past.