Histopathologic findings characteristic of CARD14-associated papulosquamous eruption.

BACKGROUND: Pathogenic mutations in caspase recruitment domain-containing protein 14 (CARD14) lead to CARD14-associated papulosquamous eruption, which shares clinicopathologic findings with psoriasis and pityriasis rubra pilaris. We aimed to describe distinguishing histopathologic features of CARD14-associated papulosquamous eruption. METHODS: This retrospective study examined the histopathologic features of specimens from patients with confirmed CARD14-associated papulosquamous eruption and adult patients with plaque psoriasis and pityriasis rubra pilaris. RESULTS: Lesional skin biopsies from patients with CARD14-associated papulosquamous eruption consistently showed alternating checkerboard parakeratosis and orthokeratosis, acanthosis without acantholysis, and dilated vessels in the dermal papillae, with some cases also showing follicular plugging. CONCLUSION: CARD14-associated papulosquamous eruption has a range of findings, with a predominance of features typically associated with pityriasis rubra pilaris.