Summary

A cutaneous horn is a rare clinical condition characterised by a conical projection of hyperkeratotic epidermis. Cutaneous horns most commonly arise from sun-exposed skin in elderly men, but may arise from any part of the body at any age in men and women. When a cutaneous horn forms, it is important to determine the underlying cause. Various skin diseases may present with cutaneous horns including viral warts, actinic keratosis, keratoacanthoma, seborrhoeic keratosis, pyogenic granuloma, discoid lupus erythematosus, verruca vulgaris, Bowen's disease, basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. The underlying pathology is benign in 61.1% of cases, premalignant in 23.2% of cases and malignant in 15.7% of cases. We report a patient with a cutaneous horn arising from an area of discoid lupus erythematosus on the scalp.