Histopathology of Erythema Toxicum Neonatorum

Abstract

Erythema toxicum neonatorum is a common condition, occurring in approximately one-third of the infants examined by Taylor and Bondurant.1These authors gave the first presentation of this disease in the American dermatological literature, emphasized that erythema toxicum neonatorum is a definite disease entity, and gave an excellent description of the clinical picture. The disease appears within the first three to four days of life as erythematous macules, papules, pustules, or combinations of these lesions. The eruption generally disappears by the sixth day of life. Luders2recently reported the first description of the histologic changes that occur with the disease. The present paper presents our histopathologic findings in 10 cases. Material and Methods The present study was performed on biopsy tissues obtained from 10 erythema toxicum neonatorum patients showing typical erythematous, papular, or pustular lesions. Cases were selected to show early and late lesions of all forms, including