Confluent and reticulated papillomatosis successfully treated with amoxicillin

Abstract

Conflicts of interest: none declared. Sir, Further to the recently published experience of the Mayo Clinic in the treatment of confluent and reticulated papillomatosis (CRP),1 we report a case of CRP treated successfully with amoxicillin. Confluent and reticulated papillomatosis is an unusual skin disorder originally described by Gougerot and Carteaud. It consists of a scaly, macular and papular eruption typically affecting the seborrhoeic areas of young adults. As the name suggests, lesions become confluent in the centre, coalescing to form a reticulated pattern at the periphery of affected areas. We describe a 29‐year‐old female who initially presented in 2004 with a 4‐year history of an asymptomatic eruption affecting the axillae, mons pubis, submammary (Fig. 1) and inguinal folds. She had been treated unsuccessfully with topical steroids and antifungal agents. Differential diagnoses included a fungal eruption, pityriasis versicolor, Darier's disease and Dowling–Degos disease (reticulate pigmented anomaly of the flexures) but these were excluded by investigations; skin scrapings for mycology were negative and a skin biopsy showed mild chronic inflammation in the upper dermis with some mild pigmentary incontinence. Wood's light examination was unremarkable. A skin swab and culture of skin scrapings on chocolate agar were negative. Following clinical and histological correlation a diagnosis of CRP was made.