{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,8]],"date-time":"2026-05-08T20:17:35Z","timestamp":1778271455018,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":53,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,8]],"date-time":"2026-05-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1778198400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: A \u201cmisnomer\u201d is a term that is erroneous or inaccurate. Dermatology is replete with well-established misnomers such as \u201cMycosis fungoides\u201d, \u201ckeratoacanthoma\u201d, \u201cactinomycosis\u201d, \u201cgranuloma pyogenicum\u201d, or \u201cKaposi sarcoma\u201d. Misnomers have originated from misconceptions or mistranslations that were passed down historically, and reflect the comparative\u2013descriptive origin of terminology. We aimed to collect and categorize (non-)dermatological misnomers and to assess strategies for abandoning them. Methods: A questionnaire-based survey with 411 senior academic physicians of five university hospitals in Switzerland was conducted to evaluate the frequency of misnomers across dermatology and other specialties. In addition, a systematic review was conducted, complemented by manual searches to collect medical misnomers. Results: The survey and systematic review yielded 536 non-dermatological and 168 dermatological misnomers, pointing to a particular abundance of misnomers in dermatology, which could be categorized into seven categories. A wrong pathological concept was the most common origin of misnomers. Amongst dermatologists, 60.0% regarded misnomers as a relevant problem in their specialty compared to only 35.5% of non-dermatologists. Preferred strategies for abandoning misnomers were avoidance, consensus definitions, and information in teaching. Conclusions: Our results show that misnomers are particularly abundant in dermatology, indicating the need to modernize terminology.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm15103608","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,8]],"date-time":"2026-05-08T19:10:52Z","timestamp":1778267452000},"page":"3608","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Misnomers in Dermatology and Other Medical Specialties\u2014How to Deal with Science Fiction?"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Vera L. Baumann","family":"Griss","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Basel, 4031 Basel, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Radina V.","family":"Velikova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Basel, 4031 Basel, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Peter","family":"Itin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Basel, 4031 Basel, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0668-5675","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Deborah R.","family":"Vogt","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Research, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, 4001 Basel, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Adam","family":"Daunton","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology, Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, Salford M6 8HD, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Zita-Rose","family":"Manjaly Thomas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Basel, 4001 Basel, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Michael","family":"Geiges","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Zurich, 8091 Z\u00fcrich, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0200-4254","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Simon M.","family":"Mueller","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Basel, 4031 Basel, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Oxford Learner\u2019s Dictionaries (2026, March 18). 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