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We report four infants born with necrotic caput succedaneum that led to a scarring alopecia with ongoing inflammation and persistent scale-crust. These lesions did not significantly improve with topical or oral antibiotics, but did respond somewhat to topical corticosteroids. Alopecia with chronic erosive scale-crust and a moderate response to topical corticosteroids are findings consistent with a diagnosis of erosive pustular dermatosis of the scalp.

Aplasia cutis of the scalp is often a sporadic condition, but familial occurrences with an autosomal dominant inheritance have been documented. Aplasia cutis of the scalp may be seen in two main clinical variants: oval-shaped membranous aplasia cutis and irregular, larger defects. We report six families in whom more than one member has aplasia cutis of the scalp, all of them with large irregular defects located over the vertex or anterior to the vertex along the sagittal suture. We review previous reports of this entity with clinical pictures and note that in most instances, the defects are of the nonmembranous variant.

Phrynoderma is a distinctive form of follicular hyperkeratosis associated with nutritional deficiency. Although originally thought to represent vitamin A deficiency, several studies have demonstrated multiple etiologies. Characteristic skin lesions are hyperkeratotic papules that first appear on the extensor surfaces of the extremities, shoulders, and buttocks. We report a 14-month-old boy with malnourishment and hyperkeratotic papules and plaques with histologic changes typical of phrynoderma. Despite an extensive evaluation, a specific nutritional deficiency was not identified. Phrynoderma is believed to be a manifestation of severe malnutrition, not necessarily accompanying low vitamin A levels. While the literature supports a link between phrynoderma and vitamins E, B, A, and essential fatty acids general malnutrition seems to be the strongest association. The clinical picture typically improves with enhanced nutritional status. Phrynoderma must be considered in the differential diagnosis in patients with extensor surface hyperkeratotic papules and plaques in the setting of malnourishment and should prompt the clinician to evaluate cell markers of nutritional status, not just vitamin A. We believe this patient exemplifies the conundrum that faces clinicians in evaluating patients with extensor surface predominant hyperkeratotic papules and plaques in the setting of malnourishment.

Two children with chronic and asymmetric skin indurations are presented. The clinical and pathologic features are suggestive of asymmetric childhood scleredema and stiff skin syndrome. The key features of scleredema and stiff skin syndrome are discussed.

A 14-year-old girl was admitted to the hospital because of persistent throat pain, fever, fatigue, 25 pound weight loss, and leukopenia. On physical examination she was thin, ill-appearing, and had necrotic papules on the face and palpable cervical lymph nodes. Presumptive differential diagnosis included occult malignancy and infection. Numerous investigative procedures failed to elucidate a source. Vasculitis was eventually appreciated after repeat skin biopsy. Numerous serologic studies were performed and were notable for a very low level of the second component of complement without direct evidence of lupus erythematosus (LE) or other autoimmune conditions. A diagnosis of C2 deficiency-associated vasculitis was made. She was treated with high-dose prednisone and cyclophosphamide with resolution of her symptoms. Two years later she returned with marked malar erythema. Antinuclear and Smith antibodies were then detected and a diagnosis of LE was made. She was treated with hydroxychloroquine and sun-avoidance measures with clearance of the malar rash.

A 14-year-old adolescent girl presented with a 2-year history of an exquisitely tender, vegetating cheilitis. Because of this, she was unable to drink fluids and was repeatedly hospitalized for dehydration and pain management. Lip and skin biopsies, as well as multiple laboratory studies did not support a definitive diagnosis. After 2 years, a diagnosis of factitial cheilitis was finally established.

Localized cutaneous graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) following a dermatomal distribution or in a pattern of Blaschko's lines. Some authors have postulated that dermatomal GVHD is triggered by a varicella-zoster virus infection, although in reported cases, there was no history of a preceding herpes zoster. We describe a case of GVHD localized to the exact dermatome of a culture-proven varicella-zoster virus infection. PCR analysis failed to detect persistence of viral genome in the affected skin.

Cutaneous mucinosis of infancy has been reported only rarely in the literature. We describe a case occurring in a black infant girl. Although no associated abnormalities have been described previously, our patient had a history of developmental delay, congenital cataracts, bilateral inguinal hernias, and an accessory tragus. The significance of these features is unclear.

Pyoderma gangrenosum is an uncommon ulcerative skin disorder that occurs in all age groups. Approximately 4% of patients are infants and children. There are several notable differences between the childhood and adult manifestations of the disease, including the distribution of lesions and associated disorders. We reviewed the childhood cases (< or = 18 yrs of age) of unequivocal pyoderma gangrenosum in the English literature and tabulated the trends in clinical features, associated disorders, and therapy. We report our 3-week-old patient, the youngest documented case. Of the 46 patients, only 4 were less than 1 year of age. A systemic illness was present in 74% of the older children, most commonly, ulcerative colitis. Only one infant had an associated problem (HIV+) at the time of onset. Infants appear to have an unusual distribution of perianal and genital lesions not often described in other age groups. Our review suggests that pyoderma gangrenosum in children has a similar clinical appearance to that in adults. It is associated with some of the same underlying disorders, but with different frequencies. The distribution of lesions in children is similar, often involving the lower extremities, but pyoderma gangrenosum of the head and face appears to be more common in children. Infants may have ulcers in genital and perianal areas. The most frequently prescribed treatment for children is systemic corticosteroids, which generally are very effective.

Two infant boys developed scrotal hairs within the first three months of life. There was no other clinical or biochemical evidence of excessive androgen production, and no further progression of hair growth.

Apert syndrome is a congenital disorder consisting primarily of deformities of the skull, hands, and feet. These individuals are also prone to severe acne, particularly involving the upper arms and forearms. Conventional therapy is often ineffective. We report the successful use of isotretinoin for acne in a patient with Apert syndrome.

A 7-week-old infant developed hyperpigmented lesions at 5 days of age that gradually progressed to sharply demarcated, medium-brown macules of unusual configuration involving the neck, trunk, buttocks, upper arms, and right upper thigh. A biopsy specimen of a representative lesion showed changes of epidermal melanosis consistent with café au lait spot. At age 15 months the patient developed a limp. Roentgenographic evaluation showed widespread, bilateral changes of fibrous dysplasia, most severe in the right pelvis, femur, and tibia. At the present time he has no evidence of precocious puberty or other endocrinopathies. Despite the absence of endocrine abnormalities, these findings are consistent with a diagnosis of McCune-Albright syndrome with extensive bony and cutaneous lesions.

Two sisters had an unusual constellation of findings, including telangiectases [corrected] involving the face and limbs, unclassifiable spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia, hypothyroidism, and tractional retinal detachment preceded by retinal and iris neovascularization. To our knowledge, this combination of defects has not been previously documented in the literature.

Primary cutaneous lymphoma in childhood is extremely rare. An 11-year-old girl had lesions that were treated as infected insect bites until a biopsy was performed and the diagnosis of primary T-cell lymphoma was made. In contrast to the typically indolent course of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma in adults, the condition in children tends to disseminate rapidly.

Two children with pili torti (twisted hairs) are reported, one of whom had sensorineural hearing loss. This combination of pili torti and deafness was described as a new genetic entity by Björnstad in 1965. Although light microscopy demonstrated variable numbers of twists along the shafts of hairs obtained from both patients, scanning electron microscopy in both cases revealed flattening and diagonally arranged scalloped defects on only one side of the involved hair shafts rather than true twists. Early auditory testing should be performed in children with pili torti in order to secure early treatment of possible associated hearing loss.

A skin eruption may be one of the early clues to meningococcal meningitis. We treated a boy with meningococcal disease accompanied by an exanthemlike eruption. Although the skin lesions in meningococcal meningitis are traditionally described as petechial, purpuric, or ecchymotic, the absence of these findings should not deter the physician from a clinical suspicion of this potentially fatal infection.

Sinus histiocytosis with massive lymphadenopathy is a rare clinicopathologic entity that affects mainly children and young adults. Although the lymph nodes are the most common sites of involvement, extranodal infiltrates may arise in the orbits, skin, upper respiratory tract, and bone, as well as other organs. Approximately 10% of patients have had cutaneous infiltrates, but very few of them have had lesions limited to the skin. We treated a 15-year-old female with cutaneous nodules as the sole manifestation of the disease.

Five infants under 1 year of age were reported with a syndrome of recurrent crops of pruritic papulopustules of the scalp. In three children there were also intermittent outbreaks on the trunk and extremities. Cultures showed the pustules to be sterile. Biopsies of scalp and skin tissues showed eosinophilic folliculitis. Some patients had eosinophilia during outbreaks of pustules. These cases are similar to the eosinophilic pustular folliculitis reported in a few adult patients with the exception that there was predominant scalp involvement in the children. We propose that eosinophilic pustular folliculitis of infancy is a distinct pustular dermatosis.

We evaluated two patients with hereditary bullous poikiloderma. Both had acral bullae, generalized poikiloderma with prominent atrophy, and acral keratoses. One patient, with sporadic disease, had, in addition, urethral and subglottic stenoses, webbing of digits, and poor dentition. The other patient, whose disease was dominantly inherited, had koilonychia. The results of cutaneous histopathology, electron microscopy, and immunofluorescence mapping studies are presented. It is possible that Kindler syndrome and Weary's hereditary acrokeratotic poikiloderma are variants of the same disease.

The fibromatoses are a heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by proliferation of fibroblasts. Infantile myofibromatosis is a variant that is distinctive because of its multicentric origin, appearance at birth, and cellular composition, which is predominantly myofibroblasts. We treated a patient with infantile myofibromatosis with the interesting clinical presentation of a linear lesion involving the left arm and shoulder, and aggressive hepatomegaly with jaundice secondary to fibroblastic infiltration of the common bile duct and gallbladder. Diagnosis was confirmed histologically and ultrastructurally. Excision of the cutaneous lesion was facilitated by tissue expansion of uninvolved regional tissue.

Cicatricial pemphigoid has been documented previously in only four patients under the age of 20 years. We report a 6-year-old male who had erosions of the oral and genital mucosa, conjunctivitis, hoarseness, dysphagia, recurrent vomiting, and weight loss. Upper airway obstruction due to a chronically inflamed and scarred epiglottis necessitated tracheostomy. Biopsy of tissue from a solitary cutaneous lesion demonstrated a subepidermal bulla. Direct and indirect immunofluorescence confirmed a diagnosis of cicatricial pemphigoid. Therapy was begun consisting of prednisone, 2 mg per kg per day, in combination with dapsone, 2 mg per kg per day. He did not improve until the prednisone dosage was increased to 4 mg per kg per day.

Yellow nail syndrome is characterized by the triad of abnormally shaped, slow-growing, yellow nails, lymphedema, and chronic respiratory tract disease. Nail changes may precede the other features by several years. The syndrome is most often seen in middle-aged individuals and has not been documented in children under age 11 years. We cared for an 8-year-old girl with this disorder.