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Bullous lesions in acrodermatitis enteropathica delaying diagnosis of zinc deficiency: a report of two cases and review of the literature
Author(s) -
Jensen Sarah L.,
McCuaig Catherine,
Zembowicz Artur,
Hurt Mark A.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of cutaneous pathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.597
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1600-0560
pISSN - 0303-6987
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0560.2008.00981.x
Subject(s) - acrodermatitis enteropathica , pathology , medicine , dermatology , acrodermatitis , zinc deficiency (plant disorder) , eosinophilic , skin lesion , micronutrient , alternative medicine
Acrodermatitis enteropathica (AE) is a rare disorder associated with poor absorption of zinc. A variety of clinical and histological findings have been reported in the literature, described mainly in isolated case reports. Because of the varied nature of these cases, the histological features of AE are described often as non‐specific. We describe lesions of AE in two patients who presented with vesiculobullous and erosive skin lesions, both showing intra‐epidermal, inflammatory vesiculation with surrounding eosinophilic epidermis and necrotic keratinocytes. The lack of clinical suspicion of AE led to their misdiagnosis. We present these two patients to further characterize the bullous variant of AE, and we review the previously reported clinical and histopathological findings.