Lichen striatus in adults or 'adult blaschkitis'?. There is no need for a new naming.

BACKGROUND: Lichen striatus (LS) is a well-known acquired linear inflammatory dermatosis. In 1990, Grosshans and Marot introduced the term 'adult blaschkitis' (AB), describing an eruption similar to LS occurring in an adult (adult LS). Does there really exist a new entity or a need for a new naming?

OBJECTIVE AND METHODS: Two new cases of adult LS are described and the data from 16 earlier cases (12 AB and 4 adult LS) are reviewed.

RESULTS: The analysis of 18 adult patients with an acquired inflammatory blaschkolinear eruption reveals that females are affected two times as frequently as males. The mean age at onset is 44 years, the mean duration until spontaneous cure 8.7 months. Relapses occur in 27.7%. In 78%, the eruption is localized on the trunk, in 55% on the arms and in 50% on the legs. Multilinearity is found in 100% if the eruption is on the trunk, and 61.5% if it is on the limbs. Neither clinical nor morphological differences exist between AB and adult LS.

CONCLUSION: There are no convincing characteristics which justify creating a new name or even a new entity. AB may be the same as LS, a well-known acquired linear inflammatory dermatosis, which--as has been shown now--does not occur so rarely in adults. However, the etiology of this entity remains obscure.