Woman, diagnosed with Darier disease, may be 1st case in UPdiagnose

KANPUR: A 22-year-old woman in city was diagnosed with a rare kind of skin disease 'Darier', which has no cure, by doctors at Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Memorial Medical College (GSVM) about two weeks ago. The disease is so rare that it affects only one out of one lakh persons.

Also known as Darier white disease, the skin ailment is marked by the occurrence of of papules in groups of black and red colour, which may have a harsh and firm feel on the skin. The disease normally affects persons between 20 to 30 years of age and surfaces mainly when a person is in his/her teens. The doctors had started precautionary treatment of the woman patient as soon as it was confirmed that she was suffering from Darier.

Head of pathology department at GVSM Medical College, Dr Mahendra Singh, said various medical tests were conducted on the patient before confirming the disease. "During the course of tests, I came to know that even the patient's father was affected by the ailment, however, he did not come to us for treatment. The disease is not curable." Singh said "The patient had first gone to Lala Lajpat Rai Hospital's skin department to be treated as soon as the papules started surfacing. The doctors there decided to perform a biopsy for which she was sent to surgery department. As certain pathological tests had to be performed, the patient was sent to us where after several examinations we came to know that she was suffering from Darier."

"As there is no treatment for Darier disease, we immediately started precautionary treatment of the patient. Certain precautions to be taken by the person affected by it. Special care of the skin is to be taken including skin protection" said the head of the department.

"This could be the first case of Darier disease in the state as I have not come across any such case in my entire career. Darier was first diagnosed in Denmark and the countries in its vicinity but it later spread worldwide. It is a rare disease and is congenital," Dr Singh added.