Neutrophilic eccrine hidradenitis (NEH) is occasionally reported in patients who have not received chemotherapy.

The purpose of this study was to describe the clinicopathologic features of NEH occurring in healthy children and to investigate the interleukin (IL)-8 expression in the cutaneous lesions.

Ten children with characteristic histologic features of NEH were collected from the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital. Their formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded specimens were examined by immunohistochemical staining for IL-8.

The age of first presentation at our clinic ranged from 6 months to 14 months with a median age of 9.1 months. The onset of the disease clustered in the summertime. The most common clinical appearance was multiple erythematous papules and nodules on the limbs. Two of 7 biopsy specimens grew coagulase-negative Staphylococcus. None of patients had underlying systemic disease and all had complete resolution of the lesions within 3 weeks. Immunohistochemical staining for IL-8 was negative in the 10 cases studied.

Childhood NEH appears as urticaria-like erythematous nodules and plaques on the limbs, trunk, or scalp. This benign and limited disease occurs with a predilection for summer months. In our study, onset was in children less than 15 months of age. IL-8 was not detected in the cutaneous lesions.