Granuloma faciale.

GRANULOMA FACIALE is a rare dermatosis which presents a problem in differential diagnosis. Formerly known as eosinophilic granuloma of the skin, the condition was separated by Pinkus' in 1951 from a heterogeneous group of disorders related only by the presence of tissue eosinophilia. In 1952 Pinkus2 reported three new cases and reviewed the medical literature. He concluded that a total of 29 cases, including those in his report, had been recognized at that time. Subsequently additional examples have been recognized in several countries. In 1959, 15 cases were described by Johnson et al.3 It is considered that the group of reticulohistiocytoses (Letterer-Siwe type, Hand-SchullerChristian type and eosinophilic granuloma of bone) is unrelated to granuloma faciale. Three patients with granuloma faciale, seen in the past year, will be discussed, with a comment on the differential diagnosis of this condition. It is believed that these are the first cases reported from Canada.