Hydroa vacciniforme associated with EBV infection in a Moroccan child

Asmae Abdelmouttalib, Soumaya Hamich, Fatima Zahra Elghtaibi, Karima Senouci

Dermatology and Venereology Department, Mohamed V University in Rabat, Morocco

Corresponding author: Asmae Abdelmouttalib, MD

How to cite this article: Abdelmouttalib A, Hamich S, Elghtaibi FZ, Senouci K. Hydroa vacciniforme associated with EBV infection in a Moroccan child. Our Dermatol Online. 2022;13(2):211-212.

Submission: 06.02.2021; Acceptance: 16.04.2021

DOI: 10.7241/ourd.20222.23

Citation tools:

Related Content

Copyright information
© Our Dermatology Online 2022. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by Our Dermatology Online.

Hydroa vacciniforme (HV) is a very rare photosensitivity disorder of childhood characterized by pruritic or painful vesicles in photo-distributed areas. We report a case of a seven-year-old male presenting with recurrent scars on the face with significant impact on psychological health.

The history of the patient’s disease went back to when he was five years old and began to show eruptions on the face and forearms associated with a burning sensation, evolving recurrently with each exposure to the sun. Later, these lesions became confluent and crusted, then detached, leaving residual scars. A clinical examination revealed varioliform scars on the face, with scaly and crusted lesions on the nose and auricle (Figs. 1a – 1c). The rest of the examination revealed no adenopathy or organomegaly. Blood count, lymphocyte circulating levels, and immunophenotyping were normal and EBV serology was positive, with IgG+ and IgM-. The child refused to have a skin biopsy performed and did not return for another consultation.

Figure 1: (a and b) Varioliform scars on the face with scaly and crusted lesions on the auricle and (c) scaly and crusted lesions on the nose.

Hydroa vacciniforme is associated with an EBV infection. This infection might be responsible, in the presence of an underlying cellular immune dysfunction, for T lymphocyte proliferation possibly evolving into a hydroa vacciniform-like lymphoma (HVLL), or even an EBV-induced malignant T lymphoma. As lymphoma progression and mortality occur not only in childhood but also in adulthood, adult-onset cases may need more careful monitoring [1,2].

Consent

The examination of the patient was conducted according to the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.

The authors certify that they have obtained all appropriate patient consent forms, in which the patients gave their consent for images and other clinical information to be included in the journal. The patients understand that their names and initials will not be published and due effort will be made to conceal their identity, but that anonymity cannot be guaranteed.