Estrogen Dermatitis: a case report with a review of literatures.

Kim, Jong Soo; Kim, Myung Hwa; Park, Jin Wan

Case Report

Korean Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology 2009;52(5):587-591.
Published online May 1, 2009.

Estrogen Dermatitis: a case report with a review of literatures.

Jong Soo Kim, Myung Hwa Kim, Jin Wan Park

¹Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, College of Medicine, Dankook University, Cheonan, Korea. parkdkog@ dankook.ac.kr
²Department of Dermatology, College of Medicine, Dankook University, Cheonan, Korea.

Abstract

It is possible to define the premenstrual syndrome (PMS) as the cycle occurrence of psychological and somatic symptoms in the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle that disappear at, or soon after, the onset of menstruation. Some skin disease, such as estrogen dermatitis and autoimmune progesterone dermatitis, has been related to a premenstrual flare. The clinical picture is varied with pruritus, either generalized or localized or as urticaria and eczematous skin eruption. The hallmark of estrogen dermatitis is the cyclic premenstrual flare. A 39-year-old female patient presented with a perioidic of skin lesions on both hands and leg. The skin eruption commenced in the second half of the menstrual cycle, worsened through the luteal phase but the lesion almost disappeared during menstruation. An intradermal skin test to estrone showed positive results. However, a skin test with medroxyprogeterone acetate (Depo-Provera(r)) was negative. After systemic steroid and antihistamine therapy, the lesions were found to be significantly improved.

Key Words: Erythema multiforme, Estrogen dermatitis