Epidermolytic hyperkeratosis

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Epidermolytic hyperkeratosis is a minor tissue reaction pattern that is considered the product of an anomaly in epidermal maturation and is characterized by compact hyperkeratosis, accompanied by granular and vacuolar degeneration of the cells of the spiny and granular layers. It can be a congenital or acquired defect. This pattern of tissue reaction can be found in various conditions. OBJECTIVE: To determine in which disease it is more frequent to find the pattern of epidermolytic hyperkeratosis. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A retrospective study of the archive of the Dermatopathology laboratory in the period 1969 to 2017 (48 years). Biopsies with histological diagnosis of epidermolytic hyperkeratosis were included. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Fifty biopsies were studied, in which slight predominance was observed in women (26), in schoolchildren (14), followed by preschoolers (8). The predominant topography was disseminated (76%), wart neoformations were found morphologically (70%); 79% were asymptomatic. Among the final diagnoses, the warty nevus was first followed by congenital bullous ichthyosiform erythroderma; the clinical-pathological correlation was 78% of the cases studied. CONCLUSIONS: Epidermolytic hyperkeratosis is a rare tissue reaction pattern, it should not be considered synonymous of congenital bullous ichthyosiform erythroderma, frequent in pediatric age and may or may not be related to a skin disease.