Acquired circinated ichthyosis revealing a lymph node tuberculosis

Background. Acquired ichthyosis usually reveals or is associated with an internal disease. The classical clinical aspect is vulgaris ichthyosis. We report a case of acquired ichthyosis, presenting original clinical features, revealing a lymph node tuberculosis. Case report. A 63 year-old male patient without past history of skin disease consulted for a generalized eruption. The eruption was composed of multiple erythemato-squamous plaques. The edge of the plaque was raised and circinated. Histologic examination of the edge and the centre of the lesion supported the clinical diagnosis of ichthyosis. The diagnosis of lymph node tuberculosis based on large inguinal nodes was confirmed by the fast acid-bacilli found in the lymph node. Initiation of antituberculosis therapy was followed by the rapid and complete disappearance of the skin lesions. Discussion. We report a case of acquired ichthyosis with original clinical features and we propose to coin the term "acquired circinated ichthyosis". This entity was clinically distinct from ichthyosis vulgaris or pityriasis rotunda. This dermatosis was concomitant to lymph node tuberculosis and healed under antituberculosis therapy.