What is "acrogeria"

n. (context pathology English) The appearance of senility in the hands or foot

Acrogeria (also known as "Gottron's syndrome") is a cutaneous condition characterized by premature aging, more especially in the form of unusually fragile, thin skin on the hands and feet (distal extremities). The prefix "acro" stems from the Greek akros which alludes to "extremity, tip" while the suffix "geria" comes from the Greek gerôn which means "elder".

This is one of the classic congenital premature aging syndromes, occurring early in life, among which are: pangeria (Werner's syndrome), progeria (Hutchinson-Gilford's syndrome) and acrogeria (Gottron's syndrome) and was characterized in 1940. Onset is in early childhood, it progresses over the next few years and then remains stable over time with morphology, colour and site remaining constant. A bruising tendency has been observed.

It is believed that Gottron syndrome may affect more females than males. Approximately forty cases have been reported in the medical literature, since the discovery of the disorder.