Febrile neutrophilic dermatosis

Sweet's syndrome is a sudden onset of illness with fever and multiple red nodules and plaques on the face and extremities. Because of their clinical symptoms and increase of a certain type of white blood cells in the blood count ( neutrophils ), the disease is also known as acute febrile neutrophilic dermatosis.

The syndrome was first described in 1964 by Robert Douglas Sweet.

Clinical features

Sweet's syndrome occurs more often in middle-aged women on, often by viral or bacterial infections. It may be associated with various chronic diseases, including rheumatic diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus and dermatomyositis or hematologic disorders such as acute myeloid leukemia ( AML) and monoclonal gammopathies. Due to its connection to the AML may be considered as optional paraneoplastic syndrome. Medications can be triggers. The skin lesions occur mainly on the face and extremities, but need not be limited to these regions. Histologically, these areas strong edematous changes and a dense infiltration with neutrophils. In addition to involvement of the skin and blood occurs in approximately half of the patient to arthralgia (joint pain) by accompanying joint inflammation.

Therapy

The disease is treated with systemic glucocorticoids, immunosuppressants and potassium iodide.