Suppurative granulomatous eosinophilic panniculitis: case report

A case of 12 year-old Nigerian male is presented. He had an unusual variant of Weber-Christian disease and manifested massive subcutaneous indurations and nodules limited to the cheeks, lips, left pectoral, infraclavicular and supraclavicular areas. A wedge biopsy revealed suppurative granulomatous eosinophilic panniculitis. Despite exhaustive investigations, no obvious trigger of the panniculitis could be identified. Response to corticosteroids and to empirical trials with other drugs was poor, and the outcome was fatal. We believe this is the first report from Nigeria of this rare variant of Weber-Christian panniculitis in the paediatric age, and draw attention to the life-threatening nature of this disorder.