Unilateral congenital linear atrophoderma of the leg

We report an infant with depressed, hypopigmented, linear plaques of congenital onset on the lower extremity. The lesions were asymptomatic and the child was otherwise healthy. Despite the clinically obvious change in skin texture and color, histopathologic changes were subtle: a biopsy specimen showed hypopigmentation and a decrease in elastic fibers in the papillary and upper reticular dermis. Diagnoses considered included various congenital syndromes, idiopathic atrophoderma of Pasini and Pierini, and especially, linear atrophoderma of Moulin. However, because of the significant clinical and histopathologic differences when compared to the aforementioned entities, our patient appears to have a unique presentation of congenital linear atrophoderma.