Polymorphous light eruption (PLE) has ill-defined diagnostic borderlines. It possibly includes actinic prurigo and juvenile spring eruption and could be a presenting sign of lupus erythematous.1,2 In addition, benign summer light eruption (BSLE) is a condition that needs to be distinguished from PLE.3,4 To verify such heterogeneity, we examined 105 patients whose signs and history were consistent with the diagnosis of PLE.
Patients, Materials, and Methods.
Solar urticaria was excluded on clinical grounds or when phototests elicited wheals. Patients with antinuclear antibodies at titers higher than 1:160 or with anti-Ro/SSA antibodies were also excluded.The patients were examined for skin type, duration of disease, family history, interval between sun exposure and skin eruption (latency), duration, and fading of the lesions over the summer. The minimal erythema dose (MED) was determined with 25% incremental doses of UV-A, UV-B, and solar simulator radiation (UV-AB) on untanned skin on the lower