Subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus in childhood

We report a 7-year-old girl who presented with erythematous-infiltrated, figurate, well-defined lesions over sun-exposed skin and antinuclear and Ro/SSA antibodies. Lupus band test revealed granular IgM and microgranular C3 deposits at the dermoepidermal junction. Histopathologic examination of lesional skin showed orthohyperkeratosis, epidermal atrophy, widespread hydropic degeneration of the epidermal basal cell layer, and a dermal perivascular lymphohistiocytic infiltrate. The clinical, immunopathologic, and histopathologic findings were consistent with the diagnosis of annular-polycyclic variant of subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus (SCLE). Treatment with hydroxychloroquine cleared the cutaneous lesions. We report this patient because SCLE is extremely rare in childhood, and discuss the two previous cases reported in the literature.