THE INFREQUENCY of published studies appearing in the pediatric literature pertaining to lichen sclerosus et atrophicus during childhood prompts this report of our observations covering an eight-year period.
The condition was first described by Hallopeau,* in 1887. Twenty years later reference to the disease appeared in the American literature. Since then articles pertaining to this entity have been, in the main, concerned with the manifestations found in adults. Points stressing the differentiation of lichen sclerosus et atrophicus from kraurosis vulvae, lichen planus, and scleroderma have been clearly defined.
The findings in the adult usually consist of grouped, frequently confluent, irregularly shaped, flat-topped white papules located most frequently on the upper aspect of the trunk, vulva, and anus. The area of distribution of the pilosebaceous apparatus may be involved with keratotic plugging of this system. In an advanced state atrophy occurs, and the presence of keratotic plugging may be discerned with