Case for diagnosis. Atypical Grover's disease

Abstract A 55-year-old male presented with an eight-month history of erythematous papules and plaques with demarcated areas of spared skin on his trunk, upper extremities, neck, and face. Grover's disease is a rare, acquired disorder of unknown origin, which is classically characterized by the appearance of erythematous papules on the upper trunk that are usually transient. As in the present case, there are reports of atypical disease, with facial involvement, pityriasis rubra pilaris-like lesions, and a more chronic course.

A Case of Persistent Acantholytic Dermatosis Presenting as a Chronic Single Patch / 대한피부과학회지

Transient acantholytic dermatosis, or Grover's disease, usually appears as pruritic erythematous papules and vesicles on the trunk in middle-aged men. The pathogenesis remains unclear, though sun exposure, heat, and sweating may be aggravating factors. A 58-year-old male visited our clinic for evaluation of an asymptomatic erythematous patch on the left temple that developed 40 years ago. Here, we report the rare case of Grover's disease with atypical features presenting as one large patch on the face.

A Case of Linear Grover Disease Distributed along the Blaschko Line / 대한피부과학회지

Grover disease (also known as transient or persistent acantholytic dermatosis) is a pruritic polymorphic papulovesicular eruption that is histologically characterized by the presence of epidermal acantholysis. It primarily occurs in middle-aged individuals and manifests as scattered erythematous or brown papules as well as papulovesicles on the sun-exposed skin of the trunk. A 52-year-old man had erythematous papules and patches linearly arranged on the left thigh and leg with mild pruritus. The skin lesions were successfully treated with a topical corticosteroid. However, 2 months later, the lesions recurred. The histological examination of a punch biopsy revealed focal acantholytic clefts with dyskeratotic cells, hyperkeratosis, and the infiltration of perivascular lymphocytes and eosinophils. Taken together with the late onset and lack of family history, we diagnosed this condition as Grover disease distributed along the Blaschko line, a condition presented here for the first time.

A Case of Transient Acantholytic Dermatosis / 대한피부과학회지

Transient acantholytic dermatosis was first described by Grover in 1970. It is characterized by pruritic, discrete papules and papulovesicles distributed mainly on the trunk. The histologic hallmark of the disorder is focal acantholysis, several patterns of which have been described. The etiologic factors and pathogenesis remain unclear. We report a 45-year-old male patient with multiple severely pruritic, discrete papules and papulovesicles on the trunk. There were no oral cavity, palm and sole involvement. Histopathologic findings revealed epidermal acanthosis, acantholysis and hyperkeratosis with suprabasal splits. He showed good response to topical steroid and oral antihistamine.

A Case of Transient Acantholytic Dermatosis Improved with Tetracycline Hydrochloride

We report a case of transient acantholytic dermatosis which occurred on the neck and clavicular areas of eighteen-year-old female and was improved with systemic administration of tetracycline hydrochloride. She had mild pruritic and crusted erythematous papules. Family history was not contributory. Histopathologic findings were acantholytic dyskeratotic pattern with circumscribed suprabasal clefts, corps ronds, and grains in the epidermis of papular lesion. She obtained incidental improvement of lesions on the neck and clavicles during medication with tetracycline hydrochloride which was prescribed for acne vulgaris on the face.

A Case of Transient Acantholytic Dermatosis / 대한피부과학회지

We present a case of transient acantholytic dermatosis which developed on the face of a 19-year-old Korean girl. Asyrnptomatic pinhead to miliary-grain sized brownish papules arranged in a somewhat band-like outbreak along the left side of the nose for about 3 months. Histopathologic findings were similar to Dariers disease. Immunoperoxidase staining showed that IgG was deposited on the intercellular area of keratinocytes around the suprabasal clefts. Skin lesions disappeared spontaneously in 5 weeks after a skin biopsy.