Successful treatment of areolar Fox-Fordyce disease with surgical excision and 1550-nm fractionated erbium glass laser.

Fox-Fordyce disease (FFD) is a rare chronic disorder characterised by persistent inflammation because of the obstruction of apocrine sweat glands, which is a key factor of pathogenesis. The treatment of FFD is known to be difficult, and the modalities of treatment have not yet been widely studied. We report the successful treatment of a case of bilateral areolar FFD by a combination of surgical excision and 1550-nm fractionated erbium glass laser in an 18-year-old woman. The patient presented with a bilateral areolar eruption of multiple, severely pruritic, 3-4 mm skin- to grey-coloured folliculocentric dome-shaped papules. The initial treatment plan was for bilateral surgical excision of the larger and more highly elevated papules via circumferential dermal excision, which was intended to maintain the areolar contour and minimise distortion. A 1550-nm fractional erbium glass laser was then used to control the remnant lesions. The patient was recurrence-free at 14 months after the final laser treatment, and she was fully satisfied with the treatment results.