[Eosinophilic spongiosis and ICS antibodies in a child with strophulus-like dermatosis].

Eosinophilic spongiosis associated with in vivo-bound antibodies to the epidermal intercellular space (ICS) were consistently observed in a recurrent strophulus-like eruption in an 11-year-old boy, thus suggesting pemphigus. The clinical course, however, ruled this diagnosis out since neither acantholysis nor the clinical picture of pemphigus developed in a period of 2.5 years. Since in vivo-bound ICS-antibodies have been described in several case reports of bullous impetigo we speculate that immune reactions to bacterial antigens may be involved in producing eruptions mimicking pemphigus vulgaris.