Chronic cutaneous lupus erythematosus and topical clindamycin

Description 

A 64-year-old Caucasian woman was seen in our office for several years for management of her chronic cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CCLE). Her condition consisted of violaceous papules and plaques with some focal atrophy distributed over the upper arms, face and scalp. Histopathology from two 4 mm punch biopsies performed on separate occasions demonstrated features on H&E stain consistent with CCLE: epidermal atrophy and interface dermatitis with superficial perivascular, deep dermal and periadnexal lymphohistiocytic infiltrates containing some plasma cells. Her rash had frustrated her for over 5 years, worsening with increased sun exposure. Her collagen vascular serologies were negative. She had been managed with potent topical corticosteroids with improvement, however, the patient preferred to reserve this for flares of her condition. Interestingly, the patient had correlated dramatic clearing of her CCLE inadvertently after 3 months of applying topical clindamycin gel 1% twice daily (figures 1 and 2),...

https://ift.tt/2zpMSNq