Critical inflammatory dermatoses

Although relatively uncommon, there exists a group of potentially life threatening inflammatory skin disorders where early diagnosis and treatment is of paramount importance. Clinically, such critical inflammatory dermatoses can fall under the categories of adverse drug reactions, infections or primary skin conditions. The latter may sometimes involve a paraneoplastic dermatosis which can either precede an occult underlying malignancy or signal possible tumour recurrence. Using the standard pattern-based approach to inflammatory skin disorders, this review offers a clinicopathological overview of select examples which are sufficiently distinctive for recognition under the microscope. The importance of clinicopathological correlation in these conditions is perhaps more crucial than anywhere else in dermatopathological practice due to the management implications of many of these diagnoses.