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MEDYMOLOGY
ARBOR VITAE FOR HEALTH SCIENCES
Lichen planus
Etymology:
Definition:
Gr. leikhēn: "what eats around itself" (referring to many symbiotic organisms, being associations of algae and fungi) + L. plānus: "level, flat, even"
A chronic inflammatory and immune-mediated disease that affects the skin, nails, hair, and mucous membranes. It is not an actual lichen, and is only named that because it looks like one. It is characterized by polygonal, flat-topped, violaceous papules and plaques with overlying, reticulated, fine white scale (Wickham's striae), commonly affecting dorsal hands, flexural wrists and forearms, trunk, anterior lower legs and oral mucosa.
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