While examining a 26-year-old man with scaly plaques, the examiner scrapes the surface with a glass slide and notes silvery scales coming off in layers, resembling shavings from a candle. This finding indicates:
- A Candle grease sign of psoriasis ✓
- B Nikolsky sign
- C Darier sign
- D Asboe-Hansen sign
Correct answer: A. Candle grease sign of psoriasis
Explanation
The candle grease sign (grattage test) results from heaped parakeratotic scale in psoriatic plaques; continued scraping then produces pinpoint bleeding (Auspitz sign). Darier sign is urtication of a mastocytoma on rubbing, seen in urticaria pigmentosa. Nikolsky and Asboe-Hansen signs denote lateral and vertical extension of blistering respectively, seen in pemphigus vulgaris and SSSS, not in papulosquamous scaling.
Reference: Neena Khanna, Textbook of Dermatology, Sexually Transmitted Infections and Leprosy, 5th ed.
High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP
Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.