A 39-year-old female patient, healthy and without a family history of dermatological diseases, presented with pruritic erythematous cutaneous lesions along the left lower limb, from birth. The physical examination revealed verrucous erythematous papules, with a linear distribution in the left lower limb (Fig. 1). A clinical diagnosis of inflammatory linear verrucous epidermal nevus (ILVEN) was made. Laser ablation and surgical excision were offered, but recurrence was reported.
Epidermal nevi (EN) are cutaneous hamartomas that are present at birth or develop in early childhood.1,2 ILVEN is a rare variant of EN that commonly affects females.1 Clinically, it presents as pruritic, erythematous, verrucous, hyperkeratotic lesions, with a linear pattern along Blaschko's lines.1,3 It is often unilateral and limited to the lower half of the body.1 ILVEN's management is difficult,3 with frequent recurrence of inflammatory phenomena.1,4 Clinicians must know this rare disorder, to avoid misdiagnoses and overtreatment.
Authors’ contributionAA: conception of the work, draft of the manuscript, data acquisition, literature review.
BNG: conception of the work, literature review, critical review of the paper.
JG: conception of the work, literature review, data acquisition, critical review of the paper.
Protection of humansThe authors declare that the procedures were followed according to the regulations established by the Clinical Research and Ethics Committee and to the Helsinki Declaration of the World Medical Association updated in 2013.
Data confidentialityThe authors declare having followed the protocols in use at their working center regarding patients’ data publication.
Patient consentObtained.
Funding sourcesThis research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Conflict of interestsThe authors state no conflict of interest.
