The Greek and Latin words of origin are:
-μυξοσ = muxos = mucosité – latin : mucos
-οιδεμα = oidema = swelling
The first term in Greek is not universally used anymore.
The latin translation of the Greek word is “mucos”.
The terms translated into Latin from Greek are sometimes confusing: it is probably the reason why words containing “myx” are being abandoned (or out in brackets) and are replaced by the Latin origin “mucos” (which sounds more logical)
Mucinoses are a group of very diverse skin conditions which have in common the accumulation of mucin (composed of glycosaminoglycanes.
A certain number of dermatological conditions like tumors and inflammatory dermatoses contain mucin. When the accumulaiton becomes important, the term “mucinosis” is used
To the dermatologist mucinoses can present as erythema, papules and plaques.
Pretibial myxedema is a well-described entity and is linked to disorders of the thyroid gland.
Other entities are lichen myxedematosus (or papular mucinosis), scleromyxedema (generalized lichen myxedematosusm sclerodermoid lichen myxedematosus).
However reticulated and erythematous mucinosis (REM) described later by Steigleider only has one denomination.
Source of information: Harms M. Dermatologica Helvetica (The Swiss Journal of Dermatology and Venereology)
