Acquired Ichthyosis With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

The occurrence of acquired ichthyosis in adults with systemic disease has previously been reported in Hodgkin's disease,¹,²other lymphoreticular malignant neoplasms,³multiple myeloma,³Kaposi's sarcoma,⁴carcinoma of the lung, breast, and cervix,⁵leprosy,⁶and sarcoidosis.⁷It has also been reported in patients receiving triparanol therapy.⁸To the best of our knowledge, however, the association of acquired ichthyosis with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) has not been described previously. Acquired ichthyosis developed in our patient as the only cutaneous manifestation of lupus, and the dermatosis followed a clinical course similar to that of the patient's underlying disease. Report of a Case A 26-year-old woman was admitted to the Durham (NC) Veterans Administration Hospital in July 1979 for reevaluation of renal disease caused by SLE. In June 1978, the patient had symptoms of malaise, recurrent fever, polyarthralgias, Raynaud's phenomenon, and pleurisy with cardiomegaly of three