title: PsEma--a hitherto unnamed dermatologic entity with clinical features of both psoriasis and eczema.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recent advances in molecular biology have helped establish differences between psoriasis and a group of inflammatory skin disorders commonly referred to as eczema. The authors have observed significant overlap between these two conditions such that a distinction between them may not always be made, even with histologic examination of skin biopsy specimens.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine how frequently psoriasis patients present features of both psoriasis and eczema.
  
  
  METHODS
  The authors conducted a prospective analysis of 100 consecutive psoriasis patients in their clinic.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The authors found that 20% could be diagnosed as "intermediate," having lesions with characteristics of both psoriasis and eczema, or a personal history of both. The authors suggest naming this category of inflammatory dermatosis "PsEma"--an overlap condition in which the clinical, histologic, molecular, biologic, and therapeutic responses show characteristics of both psoriasis and eczema.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Dallas, TX, USA. waresearch@texasderm.com
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Abramovits
authors.forename: Clay
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cockerell
authors.forename: Lisa C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Stevenson
authors.forename: Adrian M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Goldstein
authors.forename: Torsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ehrig
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Menter
mesh_terms: D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004485:Eczema / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index