Ichthyosis follicularis with alopecia and photophobia

We treated two unrelated boys with ichthyosis follicularis, a rare skin disorder characterized by extensive noninflammatory spiny follicular hyperkeratoses, severe photophobia, and generalized noncicatricial alopecia. This disorder must be differentiated from keratosis follicularis spinulosa decalvans; ulerythema ophryogenes; keratosis pilaris rubra atrophicans faciei; atrichia with papular lesions; atrophodermia vermiculata; and keratitis, ichthyosis, and deafness syndrome, all of which share some clinical features. Ichthyosis follicularis with alopecia and photophobia appears to be a familial disorder, but too few cases have been reported to establish the exact mode of inheritance.