Acute febrile neutrophilic dermatosis (Sweet's syndrome) in a child, associated with a rotavirus infection: a case report.
BACKGROUND
Sweet's syndrome characterized by fever, blood neutrophilia and inflammatory skin lesions, is rarely diagnosed in children. It presents in three clinical settings: classical Sweet's syndrome, usually after a respiratory tract infection; malignancy-associated, frequently related to acute myelogeneous leukemia; and drug-induced. We present, to the best of our knowledge, the first case of a rotavirus -infection-related Sweet's syndrome.


METHODS
An 18-month-old boy of Hellenic origin was referred to us with diarrhea, fever, neutrophilia, typical skin lesions, asymmetrical hip arthritis and oropharyngeal involvement. A skin biopsy confirmed the diagnosis. Thorough screening did not reveal any underlying systemic illness, except for the confirmation of an overt rotavirus infection. The syndrome responded promptly upon corticosteroid administration; no recurrence was observed.


CONCLUSIONS
Besides describing the connection of Sweet's syndrome to a rotavirus infection, this case report is also a reminder that in a child presenting with a febrile papulo-nodular rash with neutrophilia Sweet's syndrome should be included in the differential.
Makis
Alexandros
A
Child Health Department, University of Ioannina Medical School, P,O, Box 1187, GR-45110 Ioannina, Greece. amakis@cc.uoi.gr.
Stavrou
Stavros
S
Chaliasos
Nikolaos
N
Zioga
Aikaterini
A
Vlahos
Antonios P
AP
Gaitanis
Georgios
G
Siamopoulou
Antigone
A
Bassukas
Ioannis D
ID