Publication:

Clinical profile, etiology and histopathology of patients with erythroderma in South India

Background Erythroderma is a generalised inflammatory disorder of skin manifesting with erythema and scaling affecting more than 90% of the skin surface. Several studies have highlighted the importance of biopsy in the diagnosis and management of erythroderma, while some others have found it to be of limited use.

Methods Thirty-six patients with erythroderma were enrolled in the study and a detailed history, clinical examination and relevant investigations including skin biopsy was done to find out the etiology.

Results Pre-existing dermatoses were the predominant cause (84%) contributed equally by psoriasis (42%) and eczemas (42%) and clinicopathologic correlation could be obtained in 30.55% of cases.

Conclusions Our study showed that skin biopsy remains a valuable tool in the diagnosis of erythroderma.