RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Panatrophy of Gowers (PG) is a very rare disorder. It is characterized by a sharply defined and localized area of atrophy involving subcutaneous tissue and, on rare occasions, bone. The etiopathogenesis of this disorder is an enigma. A limited number of patients have been described in single case reports. OBJECTIVES: This article describes the clinical features and histopathological findings of PG with the aim of indicating that PG may not be as rare as it is assumed to be. METHODS: We studied patients with lesions resembling those of PG between the years 2007 and 2012. Diagnoses of PG were based on clinical and histopathological findings. RESULTS: Four female and three male patients presented with clinically and histologically identical lesions. CONCLUSIONS: This disorder is not as rare as it is assumed to be, probably because it is misdiagnosed as post-steroid atrophy; thus PG requires more attention. Seven patients with PG are reported here to counteract the supposed rarity of this disorder and to highlight findings of hypopigmentation mimicking steroid-induced atrophy.