Lupus Erythematosus?

presented by Henry Foong:

A case in progress... 14 year-old Malaysian boy with photosensitive eruption


HPI:The patient is a 14 year old student with one year history of erythematous patches on the face, made worse with sun exposure. He is otherwise healthy with no systemic complaints. He has been on no medications byh mouth.

Examination showed few discrete 2-4 cm erythematous plaques on the cheeks, nose, upper and lower eyelids. No alopecia. No scarring.

I Suspect this is lupus erythematous. Acute LE or Subacute LE ? ANA serology and biopsy done. Results pending. Differentials - Jessner's lymphocytic infiltrates

Questions: What are your thoughts pending the biopsy findings? Would you do anything different from what I have done so far?

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Dermatomyositis?

Abstract: 84 yo man with three week history of erythema dorsa hands

HPI: The patient is an 84 yo man who presents with a three week history of a mostly painless eruption on the dorsal hands (left more than right). I have taken care of his skin for over a decade as he's had a thin melanoma and a number of non-melanoma skin cancers. In addition, he has Parkinson's disease and his only medication is carbodopa. Fourteen years ago, he had prostate Ca successfully treated with seeds. Although mentally alert, the patient has been somewhat frail for years and muscle weakness is difficult to evaluate. There are no other skin findings, no heliotrope, no poikioldermatous changes.

O/E: Dusky erythema on dorsum of left hand with a predilection for the MCP joints. Some crusting. Periungual erythema of proximal nail folds, two fingers, right hand.

Clinical Photos (April 4, 2011)




Lab: The patient saw a rheumatologist who did a thorough w/u for collagen vascular disease with a focus on dermatomyositis. All serologies, chemistries and the hemogram were completely normal. CPK was not done.

Impression: The dermatitis is suggestive of dermatomyositis (DM). It's early spring here and he may have been more exposed to light. At this point, I am considering an early and evolving DM. Amyopathic or hypomyopathic DM takes six months to confirm. Considering his age, a thorough evaluation for malignancy might be considered. This appears to be photo-located, so I considered PCT but will hold off on urinary porphyrins for the time being.

Questions: Your thoughts will be appreciated.

Addendum: Two colleagues (Amanda Oakley from NZ and Fran Storrs from Portland, OR, USA) suggested chilblains. I called the patient and asked him if he might have been out more recently without gloves. He told me his hands are usually cold and he has a 200 yard (~ 200 mtr) walk to his mailbox. He hasn't been wearing gloves recently. It's been a cold spring here -- I think chilblains is a more likely diagnosis and I asked him to wear gloves outside when it's < 50 F (10 C) and get back to me in a week. The extend of his involvement is more than we usually see with chilblains, but the dx makes good sense. I'll affix a f/u in a couple of weeks.

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14 yo boy with a genodermatosis

Presented by:
Drs Israa Al Shawi, FICMS,  & Ali Al Hilaly, DVD
Al_Hashmia Hospital
Babylon,Iraq

Abstract:  14 to boy with photosensitivity and verrucous skin lesions.

HPI:  This 14 yo boy's story started when he was two months old. He developed many bullae on scalp and extremities which healed spontaneously leaving a thickened skin.  Over the years, he also developed many dark brown lesions in a generalized distribution.   He has two sisters (age three and five) and two young cousins (male and female) with the same features.  His parents are cousins and they are unaffected. There are a sister and brother who are normal

O/E:  Large numbers of  brown-black  verrucous  papules  and  plaques distributed  all over the body. These lesions  resemble seborrheic keratosis. He has erythema of sun-exposed areas and thick brown scales of scalp and sides of the face with alopecia.  His body hair is coarse and is reported to sometimes improve spontaneously.

Clinical Photos:

Lab:  None available at present

Pathology: One verrucous papule showed hyperkeratosis, acanthosis, papillomatosis and intranuclear inclusions consistent with verruca vulgaris.

Diagnosis: Not clear

Questions: This  appears to be an autosomal recessive disorder.
If we consider it as Epidermodysplasia verruciformis, what is the explanation for scarring alopecia, photosensitivity and hypertrichosis?
Could this be a patient with Rothmund-Thompson Syndrome?
What are your opinions about the diagnosis?
What further studies can be done to establish the diagnosis, or can this be made clinically?
If genetic testing is indicated, what tests should be done and what kind of samples would they need?

References:
Rothmund-Thomson Syndrome [Internet].
Wang LL, Plon SE.
In: Pagon RA, Bird TC, Dolan CR, Stephens K, editors. GeneReviews [Internet]. Seattle (WA): University of Washington, Seattle; 1993-.
1999 Oct 06 [updated 2009 Apr 07].

Excerpt

Disease characteristics. Rothmund-Thomson syndrome (RTS) is characterized by poikiloderma; sparse hair, eyelashes, and/or eyebrows/lashes; small stature; skeletal and dental abnormalities; cataracts; and an increased risk for cancer, especially osteosarcoma. The skin is typically normal at birth; the rash of RTS develops between age three and six months as erythema, swelling, and blistering on the face and subsequently spreads to the buttocks and extremities. The rash evolves over months to years into the chronic pattern of reticulated hypo- and hyperpigmentation, punctate atrophy, and telangiectases, collectively known as poikiloderma. Hyperkeratotic lesions occur in approximately one-third of individuals. Skeletal abnormalities include dysplasias, absent or malformed bones (such as absent radii), osteopenia, and delayed bone formation. Diagnosis/testing. The diagnosis of RTS is established by clinical findings — in particular, the characteristic rash. Routine cytogenetic studies of lymphocytes or skin fibroblasts may reveal mosaic abnormalities of chromosome 8, such as trisomy 8, partial 8q duplication, and tetrasomy 8q, which have been seen in individuals with RTS but are not diagnostic. Skin biopsy may show poikilodermatous changes, which are nonspecific but consistent with RTS. RECQL4 is the only gene associated with RTS to date; although evidence suggests genetic heterogeneity, no other locus for RTS has been identified. Molecular testing of RECQL4 is clinically available. Management. Treatment of manifestations: pulsed dye laser to treat the telangiectatic component of the rash; surgical removal of cataracts; and standard treatment for cancer. Prevention of secondary complications: use of sunscreens with both UVA and UVB protection to prevent skin cancer. Surveillance: annual physical and eye examination, monitoring of skin for lesions with unusual color or texture, screening for osteosarcoma. Agents/circumstances to avoid: excessive sun exposure. Genetic counseling. RTS is inherited in an autosomal recessive manner. At conception, each sib of an affected individual has a 25% chance of being affected, a 50% chance of being an asymptomatic carrier, and a 25% chance of being unaffected and not a carrier. Once an at-risk sib is known to be unaffected, the risk of his/her being a carrier is 2/3. Carrier testing for at-risk relatives and prenatal testing for pregnancies at increased risk are possible if the disease-causing mutations in the family are known.

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