Plica polonica: Trichoscopic findings with a brief literature review

Plica polonica is a common but rarely reported acquired condition characterized by sudden onset of irreversible entanglement of the hair. Psychological disturbance is a risk factor for plica formation. Plica polonica was considered a disease of the past caused by poor hygiene and haircare in psychiatric patients. In view of its clinical rarity, we describe the case of a 50-year-old Muslim woman of Kashmiri ethnicity presenting with plica polonica to explain the trichoscopic findings gathered in the process of medical examination. The patient had attempted the treatment of the condition with various shampoos and conditioners but without improvement. There was no history of mental illness either in the patient or the patient’s family. The hair was dry, lusterless, densely adherent, but without discharge, foul odor, or lymphadenopathy. Trichoscopy revealed varying shades of brown and crisscrossing of hair shafts resembling an intertwined mesh of wires with concretions of the hair shafts. The patient was advised to cut the matted hair.

Wariancje semantyczne pojęcia "kołtuna" w wybranych tekstach kultury polskiej i litewskiej

SEMANTIC VARIATIONS OF THE CONCEPT OF KOŁTUN ‘POLISH PLAIT’ IN SELECTED TEXT OF POLISH AND LITHUANIAN CULTURES The paper discusses semantic changes and stylistic derivation of the cultural concept of kołtun ‘Polish plait’ (Plica polonica) in Polish and Lithuanian. Although today it is impossible to meet a person with a kołtun on their head, the concept itself, as an element of socially established knowledge of the world, has survived and is still used in various discourses (ranging from dialectal texts and folklore, belles-lettres and journalistic writing, to contemporary Internet messages), to communicate different meanings, both literal and metaphorical.There are similarities and differences between the conceptualizations of kołtun in texts of Polish and Lithuanian cultures. The unifying element is the perception of kołtun as a formation of entangled hair or a mysterious disease that is inscribed into the folk system of beliefs and magical rituals. On the other hand, what sets the analysed concept apart in the two languages, is a much richer resource of folk and colloquial forms (compounds, hybrid words, phrasemes) in Lithuanian, and in addition, the lack of negative evaluation of kołtun in Lithuanian, whereas in Polish the word is often used to describe a backward, small-minded person.

Plica neuropathica – unraveling the mystery of Plica polonica

Background: Plica as a disease entity appeared fi rst in the 13th century. Its aetiology is still unknown and not fully understood. Being, in fact, an irreversible condition of tangling and felting the hair, its origin was interpreted in various ways, from religious ones, through lack of hygiene to mental illness. Although p. polonica originates from Eastern and Central Europe, and p. neuropathica, typical of Indian people, was fi rst described in England, many characteristics connect these two conditions. Aim and Objectives: The study aimed to review the plica species over the centuries and to compare p. neuropathica and p. polonica. Materials and Methods: PubMed and Google Scholar databases were searched for medical articles, books and case studies on plica published up 1884 to 2020. We conducted a systematic and critical review of the literature to compare p. polonica and p. neuropathica. Results: Plica polonica and Plica neuropathica are the same disease entity. Conclusion: The variety of names and interpretations of the disease has made plica a condition still to be fully explained.

On Plica Polonica and the forgotten Joseph Romain Louis Kerckhoffs (1789- 1867)

Plica Polonica (or Plica Neuropathica) is a rare hair disorder, an acute hair felting. The one who described this phenomenon thoroughly and who has been almost totally absent in history-of-medicine textbooks, is the French - Dutch physician, Joseph Romain Louis Kerckhoffs (or Kerckhove) (1789 - 1867).