Lupus

Lupus, an affection of the skin, characterised by the development of an eruption of an erythematous or tubercular character with subsequent scarring, and, it may be, extensive destruction of skin tissue. It often occurs in association with enlargement of glands, particularly of the cervical glands, and with other affections of a scrofulous nature. The disease is not attended with much discomfort, but is very distressing on account of its unsightly appearance, and is, moreover, usually indicative of a bad state of health. Lupus erythematosus is the least severe form of the disease; it usually affects the face, its course is very protracted; it commences, as a rule, in adult life, and is more common in females than in males. Lupus nm exedens particularly affects the nose and cheek; tubercles appear in the first instances, and are followed by changes in the skin tissue, resulting in the production of a greyish-white unsightly scar. In lupus exedens there is extensive destruction of tissue with distortion of the shape of the eyelids, nose, or mouth, according to the seat of the mischief. A bacillus closely resembling the bacillus of tubercle has been discovered in the tissues affected with lupus.