GRANULOMA ANNULARE

Course overview

GRANULOMA ANNULARE IS A CUTANEOUS GRANULOMATOUS DISEASE THAT IS NOT CAUSED BY AN INFECTION. IT IS THE MOST COMMON NON-INFECTIOUS GRANULOMATOUS DISEASE. THE DISEASE IS BENIGN AND OFTEN SELF-LIMITED. GRANULOMA ANNULARE USUALLY PRESENTS AS ERYTHEMATOUS PLAQUES OR PAPULES ARRANGED IN AN ANNULAR CONFIGURATION ON THE UPPER EXTREMITIES. IN ADDITION TO THE MORE COMMON PRESENTATION, TERMED LOCALIZED GRANULOMA ANNULARE, OTHER CLINICAL VARIANTS OF GRANULOMA ANNULARE INCLUDE GENERALIZED, PERFORATING, PATCH, AND SUBCUTANEOUS. DESPITE BEING A BENIGN DISEASE, IT CAN BE ASSOCIATED WITH MORE SERIOUS CONDITIONS SUCH AS HIV OR MALIGNANCY. THIS ACTIVITY EXPLAINS WHEN GRANULOMA ANNULARE SHOULD BE CONSIDERED IN THE DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS, ARTICULATES HOW TO EVALUATE FOR THIS CONDITION PROPERLY, AND HIGHLIGHTS THE ROLE OF THE INTERPROFESSIONAL TEAM IN CARING FOR PATIENTS WITH THIS CONDITION.