Unilateral facial erythematous patch as the presenting sign of systemic lupus erythematosus.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disorder that can have many cutaneous manifestations including malar rash, discoid rash or oral ulcer. Isolated unilateral involvement of face is uncommon in SLE. It lacks typical clinical features of LE, and may impose a diagnostic challenge for clinicians. Herein we report a case of 62-year-old woman presenting with a 2-year history of erythematous patches on left cheek and eyelid. Initially, she was diagnosed as having recurrent blepharitis or cellulitis that did not respond to conventional treatment with ophthalmic medicaments. As time went by, the patches spread to her left cheek, and she was referred to our dermatologic department. Histopathologic examination was consistent with LE. Further physical and laboratory tests have found that she had oral ulcers, proteinuria, thrombocytopenia and abnormal titer of anti-nuclear antibody satisfying the diagnosis of SLE. From this case, we think unilateral erythematous patches on face could be a rare manifestation of SLE and more intention should be paid to this type of patients, because unilateral facial symptom may mimic other dermatoses.