Chloracne in the 1990s.

BACKGROUND

Chloracne is a disease associated with toxicity of halogenated compounds used in some industrial processes. A patient affected by chloracne led us to study a total of nine cases from a single factory.

METHODS

We studied the clinical features of nine patients exposed chronically to chlorobenzenes. On all of them blood samples were drawn and biopsies of affected skin and liver were taken. Their work environment was visited and studied.

RESULTS

All nine patients were men and had polymorphic skin lesions, characterized mainly by comedones and cysts. They had chronic conjunctivitis and seven had cysts in the Meibomian glands. All of them had polyneuropathy and liver damage and seven had hypertriglyceridemia. Compounds known to cause chloracne were found in exceedingly high concentrations in the water used in the workplace.

CONCLUSIONS

Every patient exposed to halogenated compounds with the cutaneous manifestations of chloracne should be carefully investigated for systemic complications (such as ophthalmic, neuropathic, hepatic, and lipoprotein abnormalities).