Granuloma annulare: Pathogenesis, disease associations and triggers, and therapeutic options

Abstract

Granuloma annulare (GA) represents a cutaneous reaction pattern of unknown cause with a variety of previously described potential disease associations and triggers. This review attempts to synthesize the available data regarding potential etiopathogenesis, reviews the available data on potential GA disease associations and work-up indicated for patients with GA, and discusses potential inciting triggers. In the final part, this article describes the available treatments options and supporting data, and provides a framework for approaching management of patients with GA. The previous accompanying article provided a comprehensive overview of the available information known about the clinical variants, epidemiology, genetics, and histology of GA.

Keywords: annular elastolytic giant cell granuloma; granuloma annulare; granulomatous dermatitis.