Clinical Features and Predilection Sites of the Lesions Observed in Chronic Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus / 대한류마티스학회지

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The typical clinical feature of chronic cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CCLE) is 'discoid erythema'; however, several different clinical variants exist such as hypertrophic LE, LE profundus, chilblain LE, tumid LE and so on. The heterogeneity-spectrum of the lesional morphology of the cutaneous lesions and the predilection sites of the lesions of twenty Korean patients with CCLE were examined and tried to compare to those of CCLE patients of Caucasian origin. METHODS: Clinical examinations of twenty patients with CCLE were carried out by dermatologists to define the morphologic characteristics of cutaneous lesions and the anatomic predilection sites of the lesions. RESULTS: The most common cutaneous lesion-morphology noted in Korean patients with CCLE was classic discoid erythema. Three cases had concurrent cutaneous lesions of other clinical variants of CCLE. The predilection sites of all lesions were the face (cheeks) and head (frontal area). These clinical findings observed among this group of patients are similar to those features seen in people of Caucasian origin. CONCLUSION: The most frequent clinical feature of CCLE was discoid erythema and the predilections sites of the lesions found were the face and the scalp; indicating that the morphological heterogeneity-spectrum of cutaneous lesions and the predilection sites observed in Korean patients of CCLE seem to have no remarkable differences when compared with Caucasian cases with the same diagnoses.