Confluent and reticulate papillomatosis (CRP) is a dermatosis of unknown origin usually affecting teenagers and young adults. Although CRP is often refractory to treatment, success has been reported with tetracycline antibiotics.1
Report of Cases.
We retrospectively reviewed 8 cases of CRP treated with minocycline from the medical records at the University of California, San Francisco, Department of Dermatology. The clinical result following minocycline therapy was recorded from the physician's chart note. Follow-up was obtained in 5 of 8 patients and ranged from 6 to 19 months following initial treatment with minocycline. Skin biopsy samples were obtained from cutaneous lesions in 6 of 8 patients. Tissue sections cut from formalin-fixed specimens were stained with hematoxylin-eosin. Giemsa, Fite, Gomori methenamine silver, and Steiner stains were obtained on 2 tissue blocks (patients 6 and 7).There were 7 female patients and 1 male patient whose ages ranged from 8 to 27 years at