Blaschko lines

The Blaschko lines describe the path of spread of cells during embryogenesis , which determine the arrangement of skin changes in the form of peculiar patterns. Due to genetic variances or mutations , these cells can have a different color and thus visually differentiate themselves from the surrounding cells. This creates peculiar patterns (genetic mosaicism ) on the skin, which are described as Blaschko lines after the first person who described them, the Berlin dermatologist Alfred Blaschko (1858–1922). The Blaschko lines are V-shaped on the back, S-shaped on the chest, abdomen and sides and wave-shaped in the head area.

Blaschko also recognized that this change is not, as was assumed at the beginning of the 20th century, related to neuronal development.

See also

• Hypomelanosis Ito
• Schimmelpenning-Feuerstein-Mims Syndrome

Web link

• Diagram with the course of the lines

Individual evidence

1. ^ Philip M. Brown: Transcription . CRC Press, 2002, ISBN 0-415-27200-9 , pp. 38 .