Definition
It is an adverse drug reaction that presents with circumscribed erythematous plaques.
Clinical Features
It presents with circumscribed erythematous pruritic plaques on external genitalia that develop a few hours after taking a drug. Vesiculation and blistering are also common. The most common drugs producing this reaction are ibuprofen, acetyl salicylic acid, tetracyclines, or sulfonamides (Calonje 2011).
These drugs function as hapten, as they bind to keratinocytes. This fact stimulates an effector CD8+ lymphocytes reaction that causes epidermal necrosis by secretion of cytokines.
Microscopy
The epidermis shows variable degree of hyperplasia, but the main histological feature is the marked basal cell hydropic degeneration, with necrosis of keratinocytes and many lymphocytes gathered along the dermal-epidermal junction. Incontinentia pigmenti is also a feature, and a certain degree of subepidermal vesiculation may also be found in advanced lesions.
The upper dermis displays...
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References and Further Reading
Calonje, E. (2011). Mckee’s pathology of the skin. Philadelphia: Elsevier.
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Fattorini, C., Lopez-Beltran, A., Raspollini, M.R. (2020). Penile Dermatosis, Fixed Drug Eruption. In: Raspollini, M.R., Lopez-Beltran, A. (eds) Uropathology. Encyclopedia of Pathology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41894-6_5030
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41894-6_5030
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