Chilblain Lupus erythematosus and Lupus pernio – the same Entity? / Erratum

A.J. Kanwar, S. Ghosh, S. Dhar, Department of Dermatology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh 160 012 (India) We read with great interest the report by Doutre et al. [1] concerning chilblain lupus erythematosus. In the introduction the authors however appear to convey that the terms chilblain lupus erythematosus and lupus pernio are synonymous or interchangeable. This to our mind is not true and is a grave error. Lupus pernio is a type of cutaneous sarcoidosis and has nothing in common with chilblain lupus erythematosus except the ‘chill’ or the cold factor. We wonder how the authors have overlooked this serious mistake. Moreover, chilblain lupus is not given a fleeting reference in reviews devoted to lupus as the authors say. The chapter on ‘Lupus erythematosus’ in the Textbook of Dermatology [2] carries 2 large paragraphs on this with crossreferences. References Doutre MS. Beylot C, Beylot J. Pompougnac E, Royer P: Chilblain lupus erythematosus: Report of 15 cases. Dermatology 1992:184: 26-28. Rook A, Wilkinson DS, Ebling FJG, Champion RH. Burton 1L (eds): Textbook of Dermatology, ed 4, London, Blackwell Scientific Publications, 1986.