Pustulosis palmoplantaris and its relation to chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis.

In previous study we found that clavicular lesions in chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis (CRMO) in young patients was associated with palmoplantar pustulosis (PPP). In this work the relationship between sternoclavicular lesions and PPP was studied in a group of adult patients. The sternoclavicular region of 52 patients with PPP and 25 control persons was examined by tomography. Among the PPP patients there were inflammatory lesions in the sternal synchondroses in 3 patients. There were no such lesions in the controls. In this unselected population of adult patients there was thus no definite association between PPP and sterno-clavicular lesions. In young patients on the other hand, CRMO with clavicular lesions may be another, probably noninfectious, cause of PPP.