CHICAGO DERMATOLOGICAL SOCIETY
May 21, 1969
Lichen Planus and Lichen Nitidus. Presented by Marshall Blankenship, MD, and C. Memark, MD.
The patient is an 8-year-old Negro girl. Three months ago she developed a generalized eruption consisting of pruritic lichenoid papules.Examination reveals shiny, flat-top lichenoid papules on the chest and arms. There are a few hypopigmented areas on the abdomen and left antecubital fossa. No lesions are present in the buccal mucosa.Biopsy specimen from the abdomen revealed hyperkeratosis, prominent granular layer, acanthosis with irregular lengthening of the rete ridges, destruction of the basal layer, and a band-like infiltrate in the upper dermis of lymphocytes extending to and invading the epidermis. A specimen from the back revealed keratinized epidermis with dense connective tissue dermis. The upper portion of the dermis contained two circumscribed collections of lymphocytes and histiocytes. Compression of the overlying epidermis produced focal dissolution of the basal cell