Lichen striatus associated with psoriasis vulgaris treated with oral acitretin

Blaschkolinear Acquired Inflammatory Skin Eruption (BLAISE): Case Report of a Young Man Whose Dermatosis had Features of Lichen Striatus and Blaschkitis

Cutaneous conditions can follow Blaschko’s lines on the skin, which are thought to reflect patterns of cell migration and clonal expansion during embryonic development of the epidermis. These diseases are hypothesized to be caused by genetic mosaicism resulting from processes such as lyonization or somatic postzygotic mutation. Lichen striatus and blaschkitis are two such acquired inflammatory skin disorders that are distinguished in the literature by age of onset, location, and histopathological features. Lichen striatus is typically observed on the extremities of children and is characterized by lichenoid papules that appear in a linear distribution along Blaschko’s lines. Microscopic examination typically shows spongiosis, as well as lichenoid and periadnexal inflammation. Blaschkitis more commonly occurs in adults and frequently involves the truncal areas, including the chest and abdomen. Microscopic examination typically shows spongiotic dermatitis. We describe a young man with a linear eruption extending from the flexor aspect of his right wrist to his central chest, which has features of both lichen striatus and blaschkitis. Both lichen striatus and blaschkitis are self-limited diseases that may resolve within months. It has been suggested that lichen striatus and blaschkitis are not separate entities, but rather the two endpoints within the spectrum of blaschkolinear acquired inflammatory skin eruption (BLAISE). The overlapping features of lichen striatus and blaschkitis in our patient demonstrate the spectrum of clinical and pathologic features in patients with BLAISE.

Lichen striatus successfully treated with oral cyclosporine

Lichen striatus is an acquired, benign, linear inflammatory dermatosis characterized by a sudden skin eruption along Blaschko's lines that usually is not associated with specific etiologic agents. In most cases, it is a self-limited dermatosis, but may relapse. Topical steroids are its first-line therapy, but this treatment is not always effective. We describe the case of a 45-year-old woman affected by a lichen striatus on her right limb resistant to topical corticosteroid therapy. The patient was successfully treated with cyclosporine (4 mg/kg/die) for 4 weeks with no recurrence of the dermatitis during the subsequent 1-year follow-up period.

Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells and Type I Interferon Signature in Lichen Striatus

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES

In addition to several infectious and neoplastic cutaneous entities, plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) have been shown to be involved in the pathogenesis of multiple cutaneous inflammatory and autoimmune disorders, including those characterized histologically by an "interface dermatitis" pattern such as lupus or lichen planus (LP), but their role in lichen striatus (LS), which is also known to have this histologic inflammatory pattern, has never been studied. The objective of the study was to investigate the role of pDCs in LS.

METHODS

Fifteen LS patients were found in our database and were immunohistochemically tested for pDC occurrence and activity using anti-blood-derived dendritic cell antigen-2 and anti-myxovirus resistance protein A (MxA) antibodies, respectively. These individuals were also compared with 15 individuals with LP.

RESULTS

pDCs were present in all individuals with LS and LP, but they were less abundant in those with LS, although MxA (surrogate marker of local type I interferon production and thus an indirect assessment of pDC activity) was similarly intense and diffuse in all individuals with LS and LP. In addition to being part of the upper dermal inflammatory bandlike infiltrate as in LP, LS cases, unlike LP, also showed perieccrine pDCs.

CONCLUSIONS

pDCs constitute a central component of the inflammatory infiltrate in LS, suggesting a significant role in its pathogenesis. pDC distribution (perieccrine distribution) could also help in microscopically differentiating LS from LP.