Hypopigmentation in hemodialysis. Acquired hair and skin fairness in a uremic patient undergoing maintenance hemodialysis: case report and review of the literature

Dermatology. 1996;192(2):148-52. doi: 10.1159/000246345.

Abstract

With recent advances in medicine, uremic patients are living longer with an improving quality of life. Several skin diseases have been reported in patients with chronic renal failure, and the opportunity has been offered to elucidate newer cutaneous abnormalities among patients undergoing long-term hemodialysis. Hyperpigmentation was the most prevalent cutaneous abnormality observed in these patients, but hypopigmentation remains an exceptional event. We report here a case of a maintenance hemodialysis patient with an acquired hair and skin fairness. Although the true mechanism involved in this entity remains obscure, it can be correlated with a disturbance of phenylalanine metabolism on the basis of the current knowledge.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Hair / ultrastructure
  • Humans
  • Hypopigmentation / etiology*
  • Hypopigmentation / physiopathology
  • Kidney Failure, Chronic / therapy*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Phenylalanine / metabolism
  • Renal Dialysis / adverse effects*
  • Skin / ultrastructure

Substances

  • Phenylalanine