Definition of "dermatome" []

• Anatomy An area of skin innervated by sensory fibers from a single spinal nerve. (noun)
• Medicine An instrument used in cutting thin slices of the skin, as for skin grafts. (noun)
• Embryology The part of a mesodermal somite from which the dermis develops. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Preceded by severe neuralgic pain, the eruption is vesicular on an erythematous base and is almost invariably unilateral, occupying the dermatome of a peripheral nerve."
• "The cells of the segment become differentiated into three groups, which form respectively the cutis-plate or dermatome, the muscle-plate or myotome, and the sclerotome (Fig. 64)."
• "Association, report the increase in risk for stroke within a year of a shingles infection ranged from just over 30%, to more than 300%, depending on the stroke type or dermatome affected."