Macular arteritis mimicking pigmented purpuric dermatosis in a 6-year-old caucasian girl.

A 6-year-old Caucasian girl presented with a 4-month history of a mildly pruritic, brown and pink, focally petechial macules on the posterior aspect of her left leg, clinically consistent with a pigmented purpuric dermatosis. Biopsy, however, revealed lymphocytic inflammation with occlusion of the lumen of a small artery at the dermal-subcutaneous junction, characteristic of macular arteritis. This is a recently described entity that is not known to be associated with systemic disease, and remains stable over years without treatment. So far, it has not been reported in a Caucasian patient. We review the clinical and histologic features, as well as the laboratory evaluation of this case, and the previously reported cases.