A case of chilblain lupus erythematosus

Abstract

Chilblain lupus erythematosus is a special, relatively rare subtype of chronic cutaneous lupus erythematosus. Usually, discoid lesions precede or occur concurrently with perniotic lesions, and about 20% of the patients later develop systemic lupus erythematosus. Herein, we present a 26-year-old female patient who developed erythematous to purplish scaly and crusted papules on the palms, fingers and toes. She also had erythematous hyperkeratotic plaques on the ears and scalp with scarring alopecia that was consistent with discoid lupus erythematosus. Histopathologic finding revealed perivascular and periappendigeal lymphocytic infiltration and fibrin deposition in dermal blood vessels. Therefore, this represents a case of chilblain lupus erythematosus which is a rare subtype and shows typical clinical and histopathologic findings.