Acute febrile neutrophilic dermatosis (Sweet’s syndrome) in childhood: two case reports and review

Sweet’s syndrome is rare in children. Usually, heralded by tender polymorphous skin lesions, typically accompanied by fever and peripheral neutrophilia, can easily be mistaken for infection and lead to many antibiotic administration. Such therapy does not improve disease, which is thought to represent an immunologic reaction to agents as diverse as infection, neoplasia, or drugs. We report two boys, six and nine-year-old who suffered from acute febrile neutrophilic dermatosis. Both were febrile, had leukocytosis, and exhibited characteristic clinical and histopathologic lesions. They had an antecedent trauma, and responded to systemic corticosteroids. Our evaluation and long term follow-up of these children failed to reveal evidence of underlying malignancy or a chronic systemic illness typically encountered in Sweet’s syndrome.