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Mark V. Dahl, MD

Arch Dermatol. 2007;143(7):946-947.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Granuloma annulare is a peculiar skin disorder of unknown cause.¹ Asymptomatic, annular, skin-colored to violaceous papules and plaques mysteriously erupt on nonfacial skin, usually without any obvious cause. A loose collection of histiocytes surrounds or infiltrates a more amorphous and rather acellular zone of degenerated connective tissue and mucin. Often the disorder resolves with or without treatment.

Perhaps inflammation is aberrant,^2-4 and the nature of inflammation differs from person to person, based on some genetic perturbation. Perhaps an "ordinary" event such as a tuberculin skin test, trauma, infection, insect bite, or sun exposure starts an inflammation that deviates from its usual path and morphs into a persisting necrobiotic granuloma instead of resolving. Based on this hypothesis, one might predict that patients with granuloma annulare would develop other bizarre inflammatory disorders or odd sequelae, even many years later. Perhaps they might even die from an odd disease . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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