Autoimmune progesterone dermatitis

Abstract

• Seven patients had autoimmune progesterone dermatitis. The morphological findings illustrate the polymorphous nature of the disease in which urticaria, erythema multiforme, and dyshidrosiform lesions were seen. Recurrence of the eruption five to ten days prior to the menses with spontaneous resolution following the menses was present in all cases. Intradermal skin testing to progesterone was done to confirm the diagnosis. Six of the seven patients had a history of use of artificial progestational hormones prior to the beginning of their eruption. It is postulated that the artificial progesterones may have been the trigger for the development of their autosensitivity. Treatment with conjugated estrogens resulted in remission of the disease in five of the seven cases reported. (<i>Arch Dermatol</i>113:426-430, 1977)