title: Acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans of the face: a case report and a brief review of the literature.
abstract: Acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans is a rare late manifestation of tick-borne Borrelia burgdorferi infection, manifesting as inflammatory and atrophic lesions on acral skin. We describe the case of a 73-year-old woman with skin changes progressed to marked atrophy on her left hand and an edematous inflammatory involvement of the face. The diagnosis of acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans was made on the basis of clinical appearance, serological and histopathological findings, and the lesional detection of B. burgdorferi-specific gene segments by polymerase chain reaction. This unusual case illustrates that acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans affects not only the extremities but also the face. The clinical and histological finding of the lesions occurring on acral skin showed a prominent atrophic appearance, while the ones occurring on the face showed a prominent inflammatory appearance.
authors.affiliation: Giuseppe Stinco, MD, Institute of Dermatology , University of Udine, Ospedale "San Michele" , Piazza Rodolone 1, 33013 Gemona del Friuli (Udine), Italy ; giuseppe.stinco@uniud.it.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Stinco
authors.forename: Giusto
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Trevisan
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Martina Patriarca
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ruscio
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Di Meo
authors.forename: Pasquale
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Patrone
mesh_terms: D000169:Acrodermatitis / Q000382:microbiology*; D000368:Aged; D015748:Borrelia burgdorferi Group / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D005145:Face; D005148:Facial Dermatoses / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000150:complications*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial