Lichen Planus in an Infant Less Than Six Months Old

A girl, aged 9 months, had an eruption which her mother said began at the age of 3 weeks. There had been remissions and exacerbations from that time until the child was brought to me. At the time that I first saw the patient, there was a characteristic eruption of lichen planus on the arms, forearms and hands, on the back and on the legs and knees. The lesions were the typical eruption of a rather active lichen planus. Some of the papules occurred as isolated lesions; others were arranged in lines and others in patches up to the size of a coin or larger. On the back and arms, the lesions were intensely violaceous, and receding lesions were deeply pigmented. The eruption was pruritic; the mucous membranes were not involved, and there was no febrile disturbance. The only peculiarity about the lesions were their large size and their appearance