Lichen striatus in Adults or ‘Adult Blaschkitis’?

Abstract

Background: Lichen striatus (LS) is a well-known acquired linear inflammatory dermatosis. In 1990, Grosshans and Marot introduced the term ‘adult blaschkitis’ (AB), describing an eruption similar to LS occurring in an adult (adult LS). Does there really exist a new entity or a need for a new naming? Objective and Methods: Two new cases of adult LS are described and the data from 16 earlier cases (12 AB and 4 adult LS) are reviewed. Results: The analysis of 18 adult patients with an acquired inflammatory blaschkolinear eruption reveals that females are affected two times as frequently as males. The mean age at onset is 44 years, the mean duration until spontaneous cure 8.7 months. Relapses occur in 27.7%. In 78%, the eruption is localized on the trunk, in 55% on the arms and in 50% on the legs. Multilinearity is found in 100% if the eruption is on the trunk, and 61.5% if it is on the limbs. Neither clinical nor morphological differences exist between AB and adult LS. Conclusion: There are no convincing characteristics which justify creating a new name or even a new entity. AB may be the same as LS, a well-known acquired linear inflammatory dermatosis, which – as has been shown now – does not occur so rarely in adults. However, the etiology of this entity remains obscure.

Papulöse Arzneimittelreaktion entlang der Blaschko-Linien durch Lenalidomid

“…Heutzutage gilt es als fraglich, ob es sich bei der Blaschkitis um eine eigene Entität handelt oder um eine Variante des Lichen striatus, der meist im Kindesalter auftritt [3]. Fallberichte zum Lichen striatus im Erwachsenenalter finden sich in der Literatur [4].…”

Calcium Acetate-Induced Linear Fixed Drug Eruption

“…Many dermatoses may exhibit lesions distributed in a linear pattern [6]. The linearity may be related to anatomical structures (blood vessels, lymphatics or nerves), to mechanical factors or to embryonic lines (Blaschko's lines).…”

“…The lines of Blaschko are believed to indicate somatic mosaicism, reflecting the distribution of clones of abnormal keratinocytes arising during embryogenesis [7]. Inflammatory linear lesions which follow the lines of Blaschko have a variety of clinical and histological appearances and may resemble lichen striatus, linear atrophoderma or inflammatory linear verrucous epidermal nevus [6,8].…”

“…Typical lichen striatus appears with pink, red or flesh-colored, flat-topped, lichenoid papules, sometimes with scaly surfaces [6]. Inflammatory linear verrucous epidermal nevus is an unusual unilateral eruption with onset usually in infancy or childhood, female predominance, frequent left leg involvement, pruritus, refractoriness to therapy, and a psoriasiform histological pattern [6,8].…”

Cryotherapy for Lichen Striatus in an Adult – a Case Report

“…Th ey can can also be diff ered from infl ammatory linear verrucous epidermal nevus (ILVEN) and child nevus, which occur at or soon after birth and usually persist lifelong, However, LS is considered to have a greater affi nity to BL than any other condition. Some authors propose "adult Blaschkitis" a remitting and relapsing eruption of itchy infl ammatory vesicles and papules occurring usually on the trunk in adults and adult version of LS to be the same entity (14,15), while the others think BLAISE should perhaps be considered a description rather than a diagnosis (13).…”