Seborrheic dermatitis is a dermatosis erythemato-squamous very common, representing about 7% of consultations in dermatology and reached 1-3% of the population. It varies depending on age. Rare before puberty, its peak is between 18 and 40 years with a strong male predominance. After age 40, its frequency decreases and it affects virtually the men.

Seborrheic Dermatitis

The diagnosis is mainly clinical. The lesions are erythematous, scaly plaques with ill-defined, covered with scales more or less adherent. The affected skin areas correspond to areas rich in sebaceous glands and / or rich in keratin, which are descending order of frequency: the scalp, face, the middle parts of the trunk. The main functional signs are itching associated with burning surface.

Scalp seborrheic dermatitis is highly variable intensity, clinical presentation ranges from simple dandruff to the most severe forms where lesions may coalesce into plaques covering the entire scalp.

At this point trivial, the scales are thin (dandruff “dry”), whitish and very few women members. They just sprinkle the clothes at the shoulders. In its typical form (dandruff “fat”), dander (scales, crusts) become thicker, larger and diffuse erythema appears under the scales, except on the outer edges of lesions (forehead, temples …), where is visible.

In the most severe forms, lesions can cover the entire scalp. At this stage, seborrheic dermatitis is very inflammatory with onset of itching, scaly, thick fat that can emit an unpleasant odor (pityriasis steatoid).

Seborrheic dermatitis of the face affects 2 of 3 patients. The erythematous lesions are larger and fatter than the scales on the scalp. The scaly crusts are weakly adherent and can be detached easily. The dermatitis is predominantly localized in the nose, the middle part of the eyebrows, the edge of the smelly scalp and folds of the flags of ears. At these places the patient experiences tingling, burning, itching, dryness, irritation. In case of seborrheic dermatitis of the face, there is often a dandruff of the scalp, which becomes itchy during flares.

The treatment of seborrheic dermatitis is almost always local (the path is generally reserved for severe and profuse). It is a chronic condition: periods of remission, obtained with or without treatment interspersed with extensive erythemato-squamous. No treatment can not permanently cure the disease.

The objective is to suppress symptoms of the disease during outbreaks. The different therapeutic weapons are classified into two groups: antifungal and anti-inflammatory that can reduce skin colonization by Malassezia yeasts, fight against inflammation and eventual cleaning of residual sebum preferred sites of disease.

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