Successful treatment of Darier's disease by partial-thickness removal of skin

Excision of partial-thickness skin has resulted in definitive improvement in 3 patients with widespread Darier's disease. More than 3 years after surgery, the formerly pruritic and inflammatory areas which were malodorous and had pustular crusts with intertriginous vegetating growths, are now asymptomatic and apparently free of disease. The technical details of the procedure are described, and the results are interpreted in light of our ideas of the pathogenesis of the disease.