ABSTRACT

A nine-year old girl admitted to our clinic with two months history of itchy skin eruption, initially started on the arms and then disseminated to all the body including the face. Dermatological examination revealed extensive papulosquamous lesions covered with hemorrhagic crust and central necrosis. Clinically the diagnosis was thought to be pityriasis lichenoides et varioliformis acuta (PLEVA) and a skin biopsy was performed from a lesion which revealed exocytosis and spongiosis in epidermis, edema and exocytosis of erythrocytes in papillary dermis, perivascular lymphocytic infiltration in dermis. In laboratory evaluation, oropharyngeal culture was positive for Streptococcus pyogenes.

The analysis of urine sample revealed leucocyturia and Escherichia coli grew on urine culture. Therapy with erythromycin, which was found to be sensitive against both pathogens, and also the main therapeutic agent for PLEVA started 250mg tb 4x1 orally, since the histopathological findings were also compatible with PLEVA. A rapid response was achieved and more than half of the lesions were found to be regressed in ten days. In this report, a child of PLEVA with a rapid and dramatic response to erythromycin therapy is described with a brief literature review.