Lupus miliaris disseminatus faciei part II: an overview

Lupus miliaris disseminatus faciei, a chronic inflammatory disorder, is a controversial and enigmatic diagnostic/therapeutic entity. Multiple, discrete, smooth 1-3 mm brown/red or brown-to-yellowish dome-shaped papules (sometimes with mild scaling) are its clinical characteristics. The lesions are usually located on the central and lateral side of the face. The condition is most often seen in young adults of both sexes, and diascopy may reveal apple-jelly nodules. Lupus miliaris disseminatus faciei has clearly been defined into four histopathologic groups: epithelioid cell granuloma with central necrosis; epithelioid cell granuloma without central necrosis (sarcoid/foreign body reaction); epithelioid cell granuloma with abscesses; and nongranulomatous, nonspecific inflammatory infiltrate. While in early lesions granuloma is absent and lymphocytes and a few neutrophils surround the follicles, fully developed lesions show well formed granuloma surrounding ruptured hair follicles, often with large numbers of neutrophils. Lupus miliaris disseminatus faciei must be differentiated from other conditions; to facilitate this, in Part I of this paper the histopathologic undertones were delineated into early, intermediate (first stage, second stage, and third stage), and late stages. This part of the article presents an overview of lupus miliaris disseminatus faciei.