Erythropoietic protoporphyria improving during pregnancy.

Erythropoietic protoporphyria is an uncommon disorder which causes a photosensitive cutaneous reaction, and occasionally hepatic dysfunction in affected individuals. We report a patient with erythropoietic protoporphyria who improved symptomatically during her two pregnancies. In the latter pregnancy, quantitative levels of plasma and erythrocyte protoporphyrins were reduced by more than half during the pregnancy compared with the levels before pregnancy and during lactation.