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Incontinentia pigmenti in male patients

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Background

Incontinentia pigmenti (IP) is a rare X-linked dominant genodermatosis that is typified by distinctive cutaneous findings and often by abnormalities of teeth, hair, nails, eyes, musculoskeletal system, and central nervous system. The gene that is mutated in patients with IP has been mapped to Xq28 and encodes the NF-κB essential modulator, NEMO. Female patients with IP show functional mosaicism and cutaneous manifestations follow Blaschko's lines of ectodermal embryologic development. The condition is generally considered to be lethal in utero in male fetuses, suggesting that having some normal gene expression is critical for survival.

Observations

We observed 9 boys with IP. All had normal karotypes and no apparent family history of IP. In 8 of these 9 patients, lesions were localized to one extremity at presentation. The diagnosis was confirmed by histopathologic examination that showed eosinophils within intraepidermal, multiloculated vesicles. One of the boys later developed dental and neurologic abnormalities.

Limitations

The case series was small and the workup for these patients from different sites was not uniform.

Conclusions

Male individuals may show cutaneous and noncutaneous features of IP in a limited distribution that allows survival. Postzygotic mutation/somatic mosaicism is the likely mechanism. Given the potential sequelae associated with this condition, continuing follow-up of these patients is recommended.

Section snippets

Patient 1

A 2-week-old boy developed an eruption at 3 days of age that initially appeared on the left ankle and extended to the back aspect of the left leg in a linear pattern. The patient was adopted, with no known family history of IP.

Pustules, vesicles, and crusts extended in a linear pattern from the left lateral malleolus to the left popliteal fossa (Fig 1). No other cutaneous lesions were noted, including lack of nail dystrophy or scalp lesions. Complete neurologic, ophthalmologic, and

Discussion

IP is considered an X-linked dominant disorder, which is usually lethal in males. We describe 9 male patients with IP. In 8 of these 9 patients, lesions were localized to one extremity at presentation; in the ninth (patient 6), lesions involved more than one extremity, but were localized to one side of the body.

The diagnosis in each patient was confirmed histologically. In 8 of the 9 patients, the histologic examination of a vesicle revealed eosinophils within intraepidermal, multiloculated

References (24)

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      Rare examples of mother-to-son transmission escaping male lethality and two instances of father-to-daughter transmission have been reported (Hecht et al., 1982; Emery et al., 1993). Various mechanisms have been proposed to account for males with IP and a normal karyotype, including postzygotic somatic mutation and mosaicism (Pacheco et al., 2006; Fusco et al., 2007). Based on a series of reports of females with IP with X-autosome translocation, it was proposed that the IP gene was located at Chr Xp11.

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    Funding sources: None.

    Conflicts of interest: None identified.

    Reprints not available from the authors.

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