Benign cephalic histiocytosis in a British-African child

A 14-month-old British-African child presented with an asymptomatic eruption localized to her face and upper limbs. At the age of 17 months the eruption had started to spontaneously regress. Histologic examination of a biopsy specimen from a papular lesion on the arm showed a histiocytic infiltrate in the superficial dermis. Immunohistochemical studies showed negative staining for the Langerhans cell markers, CD1a and S-100 protein, while staining for the macrophage/histiocytic markers, CD68 and factor XIIIa, were positive. The clinical and histologic features in this patient are consistent with the rare, non-Langerhans, histiocytic disorder known as benign cephalic histiocytosis. As far as we are aware, this represents the first published occurrence in a child of African origin, emphasizing the widespread nature of this condition.