Photodermatitis

Introduction: Photodermatitis

Description of Photodermatitis

Photodermatitis: Any disease caused by exposure to light.

Photodermatitis: Dermatitis caused or elicited by exposure to sunlight; may be phototoxic or photoallergic, and can also result from topical application, ingestion, inhalation, or injection of mediating phototoxic or photoallergic material.photosensitization. SYN: actinic dermatitis. [photo- + G. derma, skin, + -itis, inflammation]
Source: Stedman's Medical Spellchecker, © 2006 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.

Photodermatitis: Abnormal responses to sunlight or artificial light due to extreme reactivity of light-absorbing molecules in tissues. It refers almost exclusively to skin photosensitivity, including sunburn, reactions due to repeated prolonged exposure in the absence of photosensitizing factors, and reactions requiring photosensitizing factors such as photosensitizing agents and certain diseases. With restricted reference to skin tissue, it does not include photosensitivity of the eye to light, as in photophobia or photosensitive epilepsy.
Source: Diseases Database