Sweet's syndrome in the pediatric population: Two case reports

P Swetha, PVS Prasad, PK Kaviarasan
 Department of Dermatology, Venereology, Leprosy, Rajah Muthiah Medical College and Hospital, Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, India

Correspondence Address:
P Swetha,
Department of Dermatology, Venereology, Leprosy, Rajah Muthiah Medical College and Hospital, Chidambaram 608 002, Tamil Nadu
India

Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None

DOI: 10.4103/2319-7250.158303

Sweet's syndrome (SS) is characterized by a constellation of clinical symptoms and physical findings, which include fever, blood, and tissue neutrophilia, leading to the development of tender, erythematous plaques, histopathologically characterized by the presence of abundant mature neutrophils. Here, we present two cases of SS. First, a 4-year-old girl, who presented with fever, features of upper respiratory infection, abdominal pain, and multiple skin lesions of 10 days duration. She had similar illness 6 months ago. Second, an 8-month-old male baby who presented with fever and multiple skin lesions of 20 days duration. On examination, both children had papules and plaques with elevated borders all over the body. Laboratory investigations revealed raised inflammatory markers with neutrophilic predominance. Skin biopsy of the lesions showed dense neutrophilic infiltration of the dermis. In view of recurrent SS of the first case, underlying malignancy was ruled out. All these fit into the diagnostic criteria of SS classical type probably para-infectious etiology. These case reports bring to light that SS should be borne in mind when dealing with children with fever of unknown etiology with tender plaques, blood, and tissue neutrophilia.

Keywords: Neutrophilic dermatoses, recurrent Sweet′s syndrome, Sweet′s syndrome