Get answers to your specific medical questions from UM Medical Center experts.
Xeroderma pigmentosa is a rare condition passed down through families in which the skin and the tissue covering the eye is extremely sensitive to the ultraviolet part of sunlight.
Ultraviolet light -- such as that found in sunlight -- damages the genetic material (DNA) in skin cells. Normally, the body repairs this damage. But in persons with xeroderma pigmentosa, the body does not fix the damage. As a result, the skin gets very thin and patches of varying color (splotchy pigmentation) appear.
The condition also causes spidery blood vessels in the skin ( telangiectasia ) and skin cancer. Skin cancer often occurs before the child is 5 years old.
Abeloff MD, Armitage JO, Niederhuber JE, Kastan MB, McKena WG. Clinical Oncology . 3rd ed. Orlando, Fl: Churchill Livingstone; 2004.
Kumar V, Abbas AK, Fausto N. Robbins and Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease . 7th ed. St. Louis, Mo: WB Saunders; 2005.
|
A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org). URAC's accreditation program is the first of its kind, requiring compliance with 53 standards of quality and accountability, verified by independent audit. A.D.A.M. is among the first to achieve this important distinction for online health information and services. Learn more about A.D.A.M.'s editorial process . A.D.A.M. is also a founding member of Hi-Ethics (www.hiethics.com) and subscribes to the principles of the Health on the Net Foundation (www.hon.ch). |