Pellagra and pellagra-like erythema in a hospital setting in Lomé, Togo : retrospective study from 1997 to 2017

The aim of this study was to describe the epidemiological, clinical, and therapeutic profile as well as the outcome and to document the causes of pellagra and pellagra-like erythema in a hospital setting in Lomé, Togo.

This retrospective study examined the records of patients seen for outpatient consultation and/or hospitalization in the three public dermatology departments of Lomé from January 1997 to September 2017.

During the study period, 178 (0.4%) of 47,219 patients seen in these dermatology departments consulted for pellagra or pellagra-like erythema; 159 (89.3%) had pellagra-like erythema. The patients' mean age was 45.8±16 years, and the sex ratio (M/F) 1.8. All patients had at least one site of cutaneous involvement, nearly always erythematous or pigmented lesions in the photo-exposed areas (99.4% of cases). Gastrointestinal and neurological signs were dominated respectively by diarrhea (12.4 % of cases), peripheral neuropathies (8.4% of cases) and insomnia (8.4% of cases). The main causes identified were alcoholism (42.1% of cases) and nutritional deficiency (6.7% of cases). Five of 178 patients were infected with HIV. All patients were treated with nicotinamide and multivitamin supplementation. No deaths were recorded during follow-up.

Our results document the extreme rarity of pellagra-like erythema/pellagra. Its two main causes remain alcoholism and nutritional deficiency. Moreover, its prognosis is good when treated quickly and adequately.