Dermatologie pour les gériatres

All elderly people have cutaneous lesions, and knowledge of the principles of dermatology is needed for their management, as some of these lesions have potentially severe, even lethal consequences. In this paper, we briefly survey the main chapters of what can be called geriatric dermatology: esthetic and pathologic consequences of cutaneous aging and photoaging; benign and malignant skin tumors; some peculiarities of dermatoses in the elderly, including pemphigoid. We provide information on the daily skin hygiene required and care of elderly patients, as well as clues for detecting elder abuse. We also include data on the care of some skin disorders which, although frequent at all ages, pose some problems in the elderly.