Highlights on the etiology of keloid.

The keloid phenomenon is old and perplexing. Many hypotheses were advanced to account for keloid growth but none of them provided a satisfactory explanation for the clinical manifestations of the disease. To solve the mystery of keloid detailed clinical studies coupled with laboratory tests were undertaken on keloid and non-keloid individuals; these highlighted the determinants of the disease and paved the way to the formulation of the Sebum Auto-immune Theory. The latter provided valid explanations for the clinical manifestations of the disease and indicated a rationale for new trends of management.