[Differential diagnosis of facial skin swellings (author's transl)].

Enlargement of the cheeks may be due to a multitude of disorders, congenital, neoplastic, and in particular inflammatory. Congenital facial anomalies include cutaneous (and osseous) hemihypertrophy of the face and unilateral angiomatous malformations (e.g. Sturge-Weber-Krabbe Syndrome). Buccal enlargement due to dermal tumours include localized haemangiomas and lymphangiomas, lipomas and other benign connective tissue neoplasms, generalized disorders of the lymphatic or reticuloendothelial system including mycosis fungoides, reticulum cell sarcoma and other soft tissue malignancies, and cutaneous manifestations of malignant haemoblastoses, in particular chronic lymphatic leukaemia. Within the very large group of inflammatory skin swellings of the face a review is made of some bacterial pyodermias, severe forms of acne vulgaris, herpes zoster, lupus vulgaris, erysipelas, rosacea, steroid dermatitis, lupus erythematosus (discoid and systemic), toxic dermatitis, allergic eczema, urticaria, Quincke's oedema, and the Melkersson-Rosenthal syndrome. The importance of prevention and early detection of steroid-induced dermatitis is emphasized. This disorder, which is a pseudo-inflammatory disfiguring complication of prolonged topical steroid abuse, ranks in frequency with the skin problems most often seen in dermatological practice.