What Is Blaschkitis?

Blaschkitis is an acquired inflammatory dermatitis that some consider an adult variant of lichen striatus

lichen striatus

Lichen striatus is an uncommon condition typically seen in children that presents as elevated pink papules that coalesce to form one or more linear, potentially scaly bands along the Blaschko lines. Lichen striatus is benign and self-resolving and does not require extensive investigations or treatment.

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. In 1990, Grosshans proposed that blaschkitis was distinct from lichen striatus, identifying several criteria by which the 2 differ, including typical patient age, distribution, time course, and histopathology.

What causes Blaschkitis?

Emotional stress, medications (such as certolizumab and metronidazole), trauma, and viral infections have been implicated as triggers for blaschkitis [1,11,12]. Blaschkitis has been reported to occur with features of other skin diseases such as lichen nitidus, lichen striatus, and lupus erythematosus [1,3,11].

Why do I get eczema on one side of my body?

Acquired blaschkoid dermatitis is unilateral — it only affects one side of the body. As its name would suggest, the skin lesions occur along Blaschko lines. The lesions may resolve spontaneously but they have a tendency to relapse over time, especially at times of stress.