Inflammatory nodules of the lower legs: a clinical and histological analysis of 134 cases in Korea.

We analysed 134 Korean cases with inflammatory nodules of the lower legs on the basis of clinicopathological findings, responsiveness to various therapeutic agents, and clinical course. There were 53 cases of erythema induratum (EI), 18 of erythema nodosum (EN), 40 of EN-like lesions of Behcet's disease, 15 of other entities, including superficial migratory thrombophlebitis, cutaneous periarteritis nodosa, sarcoidosis, malignant lymphoma, Churg-Strauss syndrome, and parasitosis, and eight unclassified cases. The unclassified group was composed of a spectrum of diseases with clinicopathologic features ranging between those typical of EN and EI. The present study revealed that the profiles of diseases featuring inflammatory nodules of the lower legs in Korea differed from those found in other areas. These geographic and demographic differences should be kept in mind when managing a patient with inflammatory nodules of the lower legs.