Multiple Dermatofibromas in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus on Immunosuppressive Therapy

RECENTLY, much investigation has been devoted to the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus.1 The theory of a viral agent has gained support from the finding of myxovirus-like particles in endothelial-cell cytoplasm from kidney,2 3 4 muscle and skin4 of patients with the disease and from the animal models of Aleutian-mink disease and NZB/NZW F1 hybrid mice.1 We have recently come across four cases of multiple dermatofibromas in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus receiving prednisone or azathioprine or both. The unsatisfactory documentation of this occurrence in the literature,5 as well as the proved viral origin of histiocytomas in certain primates,6 7 8 prompted us . . .