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Case Reports: Rare disease
Infectious eccrine hidradenitis: sweat glands as the portal of entry for cellulitis
  1. Kelvin Truong1,2,
  2. Linda Chan1,
  3. Jennifer Kim3 and
  4. Pablo Fernández-Peñas1,2
  1. 1Department of Dermatology, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia
  2. 2Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  3. 3Department of Tissue Pathology and Diagnostic Oncology, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia
  1. Correspondence to Dr Kelvin Truong; kelvin.truong{at}sydney.edu.au

Abstract

Neutrophilic eccrine hidradenitis (NEH) is a rare neutrophilic dermatosis involving the eccrine glands. It is commonly associated with haematological malignancy and administration of chemotherapy. An infective aetiology for NEH is termed infectious eccrine hidradenitis (IEH). Pathogens that have been associated with IEH include Nocardia, Serratia, Enterobacter sp., Staphylococcus aureus and Mycobacterium chelonae. We describe a case of IEH in a patient with prolonged use of a compression sleeve for their upper limb lymphoedema. The histopathological findings of NEH and IEH are almost identical. Skin tissue culture and rapid clinical improvement with antibiotic therapy are keys in delineating the two subtypes.

  • Dermatology
  • Infectious diseases
  • Pathology

https://doi.org/10.1136/bcr-2022-248960

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors KT: conceptualisation, methodology, validation, data curation, writing—original draft, writing—review and editing. LC: data curation, writing—original draft, writing—review and editing. JK: validation, investigation, writing—review and editing, visualisation. PF-P: conceptualisation, validation, writing—review and editing, supervision.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Case reports provide a valuable learning resource for the scientific community and can indicate areas of interest for future research. They should not be used in isolation to guide treatment choices or public health policy.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.