Wells' Syndrome Mimicking Facial Cellulitis: A Report of Two Cases

Wells' syndrome (WS), or eosinophilic cellulitis, is an uncommon inflammatory dermatosis of unknown etiology that typically presents with pruritic cellulitis-like plaques on the extremities. Therefore, WS is often misdiagnosed as bacterial cellulitis due to its similarity in presentation. Here,...

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Main Authors: Maxence Cormerais, Florence Poizeau, Laure Darrieux, Laurent Tisseau, Gilles Safa
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Karger Publishers 2015-06-01
Series:Case Reports in Dermatology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/432392
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author Maxence Cormerais
Florence Poizeau
Laure Darrieux
Laurent Tisseau
Gilles Safa
author_facet Maxence Cormerais
Florence Poizeau
Laure Darrieux
Laurent Tisseau
Gilles Safa
author_sort Maxence Cormerais
collection DOAJ
description Wells' syndrome (WS), or eosinophilic cellulitis, is an uncommon inflammatory dermatosis of unknown etiology that typically presents with pruritic cellulitis-like plaques on the extremities. Therefore, WS is often misdiagnosed as bacterial cellulitis due to its similarity in presentation. Here, we report two cases of WS that masqueraded as bacterial facial cellulitis. Under treatment with oral prednisone and/or a combination therapy with levocetirizine and hydroxyzine, both patients showed a dramatic improvement of the skin lesions. These cases highlight the need for clinicians to consider WS in the differential diagnosis when evaluating a patient with facial cellulitis that does not respond to an initial antimicrobial regimen. In addition, our cases suggest that combination therapy with levocetirizine and hydroxyzine may be successfully used as corticosteroid-sparing treatment or to prevent relapse after the discontinuation of corticosteroid treatment.
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spelling doaj.art-e338a4e8f0304fd9804350f41d20a2d62022-12-22T03:35:08ZengKarger PublishersCase Reports in Dermatology1662-65672015-06-017211712210.1159/000432392432392Wells' Syndrome Mimicking Facial Cellulitis: A Report of Two CasesMaxence CormeraisFlorence PoizeauLaure DarrieuxLaurent TisseauGilles SafaWells' syndrome (WS), or eosinophilic cellulitis, is an uncommon inflammatory dermatosis of unknown etiology that typically presents with pruritic cellulitis-like plaques on the extremities. Therefore, WS is often misdiagnosed as bacterial cellulitis due to its similarity in presentation. Here, we report two cases of WS that masqueraded as bacterial facial cellulitis. Under treatment with oral prednisone and/or a combination therapy with levocetirizine and hydroxyzine, both patients showed a dramatic improvement of the skin lesions. These cases highlight the need for clinicians to consider WS in the differential diagnosis when evaluating a patient with facial cellulitis that does not respond to an initial antimicrobial regimen. In addition, our cases suggest that combination therapy with levocetirizine and hydroxyzine may be successfully used as corticosteroid-sparing treatment or to prevent relapse after the discontinuation of corticosteroid treatment.http://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/432392Wellsߣ syndromeEosinophilic cellulitisFacial cellulitis
spellingShingle Maxence Cormerais
Florence Poizeau
Laure Darrieux
Laurent Tisseau
Gilles Safa
Wells' Syndrome Mimicking Facial Cellulitis: A Report of Two Cases
Case Reports in Dermatology
Wellsߣ syndrome
Eosinophilic cellulitis
Facial cellulitis
title Wells' Syndrome Mimicking Facial Cellulitis: A Report of Two Cases
title_full Wells' Syndrome Mimicking Facial Cellulitis: A Report of Two Cases
title_fullStr Wells' Syndrome Mimicking Facial Cellulitis: A Report of Two Cases
title_full_unstemmed Wells' Syndrome Mimicking Facial Cellulitis: A Report of Two Cases
title_short Wells' Syndrome Mimicking Facial Cellulitis: A Report of Two Cases
title_sort wells syndrome mimicking facial cellulitis a report of two cases
topic Wellsߣ syndrome
Eosinophilic cellulitis
Facial cellulitis
url http://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/432392
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AT laurenttisseau wellssyndromemimickingfacialcellulitisareportoftwocases
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