title: Successful thalidomide therapy for actinic prurigo in a European woman.
abstract: Actinic prurigo is a rare, often difficult-to-treat, idiopathic photodermatosis. Actinic prurigo is divided into a hereditary form appearing in the Native American population and a sporadic form occurring in non-Native Americans. We present a 28-year-old Caucasian woman who developed typical clinical signs and symptoms of actinic prurigo, just as had her mother and grandmother. The patient and her mother were HLA-A24 and HLA-DR 4 with the subtype HLA-DRB1*0408. Based on clinical symptoms and the HLA pattern, the diagnosis of actinic prurigo was made. Treatment with thalidomide led to resolution of the disease. This case report of a Caucasian woman suffering from a hereditary form of actinic prurigo questions the established classification of actinic prurigo into a hereditary Native American form and a sporadic form occurring in the non-Native American population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Holzer
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wolf
authors.forename: Franz J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Legat
authors.forename: Helmut
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kerl
authors.forename: Angelika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hofer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010787:Photosensitivity Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D011536:Prurigo / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D013792:Thalidomide / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D013792:Thalidomide