Rare diseases · Sign or symptom
Epidermal acanthosis
Thickening of upper layer of skin
HP:0025092
What it means
Diffuse hypertrophy or thickening of the stratum spinosum of the epidermis (prickle cell layer of the skin).
Note that we use the preferred label 'Epidermal acanthocytosis' to distinguish this term from acanthocytosis of red blood cells.
Rare diseases that can present with this17
Very common80–99%
3Common30–79%
12- Agammaglobulinemia-microcephaly-craniosynostosis-severe dermatitis syndrome
- CHILD syndrome
- Chronic actinic dermatitis
- Epidermolytic palmoplantar keratoderma
- Hypotrichosis simplex of the scalp
- Ichthyosis-alopecia-eclabion-ectropion-intellectual disability syndrome
- Infantile digital fibromatosis
- KID syndrome
- Mal de Meleda
- Punctate palmoplantar keratoderma type 1
- Verrucous venous malformation
- Vulvovaginal gingival syndrome
The range is how often this sign appears among people diagnosed with each disease — it is not a probability of having any of them. Many of these signs also occur in common, non-rare conditions. A sign on this page is a conversation to have with a clinician, not a conclusion.
Part of the broader category
Also called: Acanthosis · Acanthotic epidermis · Epidermal hyperplasia
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Start free with EleplanThis page uses the Human Phenotype Ontology (2026-06-23) — Human Phenotype Ontology Consortium, hpo.jax.org. Disease associations from Orphanet (INSERM), CC BY 4.0. Content is educational and is not medical advice.