eosinophilic skin diseases

Definition: Eosinophilic skin diseases, commonly termed as eosinophilic dermatoses, refer to a broad spectrum of skin diseases characterized by eosinophil infiltration and/or degranulation in skin lesions, with or without blood eosinophilia.

The majority of eosinophilic dermatoses lie in the allergy-related group, including allergic drug eruption, urticaria, allergic contact dermatitis, atopic dermatitis, and eczema.

Parasitic infestations, arthropod bites, and autoimmune blistering skin diseases such as bullous pemphigoid, are also common.

Besides these, there are several rare types of eosinophilic dermatoses with unknown origin, in which eosinophil infiltration is a central component and affects specific tissue layers or adnexal structures of the skin, such as the dermis, subcutaneous fat, fascia, follicles, and cutaneous vessels.

Some typical examples are eosinophilic cellulitis, granuloma faciale, eosinophilic pustular folliculitis, recurrent cutaneous eosinophilic vasculitis, and eosinophilic fasciitis.

Although tissue eosinophilia is a common feature shared by these disorders, their clinical and pathological properties differ dramatically.

Among these rare entities, eosinophilic pustular folliculitis may be associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection or malignancies, and some other diseases, like eosinophilic fasciitis and eosinophilic cellulitis, may be associated with an underlying hematological disorder, while others are considered idiopathic.

See also

 cutaneous diseases
 eosinophilic diseases
 eosinophilic cellulitis (Wells syndrome)
 eosinophilic dermatoses
 eosinophilic fasciitis (Shulman disease)
 eosinophilic pustular folliculitis
 granuloma faciale
 recurrent cutaneous eosinophilic vasculitis (RCEV)