Perforating Lichen Nitidus

Abstract

A skin biopsy from an 8 yr old boy with generalized lichen nitidus revealed a transepidermal perforating lesion never observed before in this diorder. A disturbance in dermo-epidermal interaction with alterations of epidermal cell kinetics could explain this finding in a disease which showed many histologic features conducive to transepidermal perforation. A clear distinction should be made between primary and secondary perforating dermatoses, since perforation per se is a non-specific cutaneous reaction pattern occurring during many unrelated disorders.