[Actinic prurigo]

Abstract

The non-Native American type of actinic prurigo belongs to the group of rare idiopathic photodermatoses and therefore is often diagnosed with delay. The typical clinical and epidemiological features of actinic prurigo are described in a 10 year old girl. Detailed phototesting showed urticarial early onset and prurigo-like late onset reactions towards long-wave UVA. Repetitive photoprovocation with UVB induced delayed development of papules. HLA typing showed the typical association with HLA-DR4, in particular DRB1*0407. Treatment is usually extremely difficult and unrewarding. In this patient, the course was considerably improved by more intense physical photoprotection.