Panniculitis: a report of four cases and literature review

Panniculitis is a disease with many causes and associations. The classification of clinical subtypes is unsatisfactory and hampered by the use of eponyms. Four children with recurring panniculitis are described and their histology presented. Three had subcutaneous fat atrophy with lobular panniculitis on biopsy; all responded well to corticosteroids. The fourth child had a septal panniculitis with no atrophy of subcutaneous tissues and only a partial response to treatment with corticosteroids. A widely accepted precise histological classification of panniculitis is needed to enable accurate predictions of the outcome of this serious disorder.