[Eruptive pseudoangiomatosis in infant and newborns]

Eruptive pseudoangiomatosis was first described in children in the form of an acute non-pruritic macular or papular rash that fades on application of a glass test and resolves within several days. Viral aetiology is suspected but has never been demonstrated to date.

We discuss seven cases of infants presenting this disease: 5 boys and 2 girls aged 8 days to 16 months. The rash presented typical clinical features in all cases and affected the face and limbs in 6 of the 7 subjects. In one child, involvement of the face and back was observed with sparing of the limbs. The rash occurred after an episode of rhinolaryngeal infection in 3 cases and after gastrointestinal infection in 1 case. Spontaneous resolution was seen within 3 to 10 days in 6 patients although a longer course lasting over 9 months was observed in one infant. In another patient, the rash appeared after surgery for mesoblastic nephroma. In one child, a similar rash was seen in both parents. Screening for infectious agents was negative for the two children from whom samples were obtained.

This series of paediatric cases of eruptive pseudoangiomatosis is characterised by the very young age of one of the children, coexistence of the condition with a renal tumour in another child, the familial nature of the rash in a third child and unusually long disease duration in the final child. However, this series did not allow identification of the causative infectious agent or agents. Probably, as with other syndromes such as Giannotti-Crosti syndrome or "gloves and socks" syndrome, eruptive pseudoangiomatosis forms a clinical picture common to a non-specific viral infection.