Keratoderma Blennorrhagicum

Keratoderma blennorrhagicum is an interesting dermatosis associated with gonorrheal arthritis and occurs almost exclusively in the male sex, although three cases have been reported in females by Lees,1Issac2and Robert.3It occurs at all ages, and probably more frequently than the literature shows, because it is unrecognized in the very mild types. Up to the present time there have been about eighty-three cases reported in the literature, nineteen of which have been described in America. This disease has been described under various appellations, the most common being keratoderma blennorrhagicum, with the occasional substitution of "keratoma," "dermatitis," "keratosis," "hyperkeratosis" or "exanthema" for the keratoderma part, and "gonorrheal" for the blennorrhagicum. Berman4called it "dermatitis papillaris parakeratotica," while Rostenberg and Silver5added the name "dermatitis rupioides arthropathica." From a study of the pathology, none of these names are entirely satisfactory, since not one of them is either