Grover’s disease: a rare acantholytic dermatosis
Khryanin A.A., Sokolovskaya A.V., Nadeev A.P.
Acantholytic dermatoses are a group of rare skin diseases united by a common pathological feature – acantholysis. True acantholytic pemphigus, familial pemphigus Hailey-Hailey, Darier disease, and Grover’s disease are characterized by the presence of acantholysis, but differ in their etiopathogenesis, clinical course, prognosis, and therapy. The clinical similarity of some acantholytic dermatoses, the variability of histological changes, and the possibility of atypical forms significantly complicate diagnosis, especially in the early stages of these diseases. Grover’s disease is considered a transient acquired dermatosis, most often occurring in older men. A rare clinical case of Grover’s disease in a 58-year-old patient is presented. During the initial diagnosis, specialists considered the following diagnoses: seborrheic dermatitis, erythroderma, toxicoderma, lupus erythematosus, and Sézary disease. Furthermore, the differential diagnosis in the patient included Devergie’s disease, seborrheic pemphigus, and mycosis fungoides. No concomitant neoplastic diseases were identified during the examination. Subsequently, based on the clinical history, clinical presentation, as well as laboratory, instrumental, and multiple pathological studies, the diagnosis of Grover’s disease (Darier-like variant) was verified. The authors discuss this rare clinical case in detail and illustrate it with photographs. Misinterpretation of acantholysis without consideration of clinical, anamnestic, and immunomorphological data may lead to the unnecessary administration of high doses of systemic glucocorticosteroids, while the lack of timely histopathological examination may delay diagnosis verification and necessary therapy.
For citations: Khryanin A.A., Sokolovskaya A.V., Nadeev A.P. Grover’s disease: a rare acantholytic dermatosis. Pharmateca. 2026;33(5):144-151. (In Russ.). DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18565/pharmateca.2026.5.144-151
Authors’ contribution: All authors share responsibility for the content and integrity of this article. A.A. Khryanin, A.V. Sokolovskaya – collected patient data and determined diagnostic and therapeutic measures. A.A. Khryanin, A.V. Sokolovskaya, A.P. Nadeev – conceptualized, wrote, edited, and approved the final version of the article. A.P. Nadeev – performed histological examination.
Conflicts of interest: The authors of this article have confirmed that there is no apparent or potential conflict of interest that needs to be reported.
Funding: The authors have no financial interest in the materials or methods presented.
Keywords
acantholytic dermatoses
acantholysis
Grover’s disease
differential diagnosis
About the Authors
Aleksey A. Khryanin, Dr. Sci. (Med.), Professor, Department of Dermatovenereology and Cosmetology, Novosibirsk State Medical University, Novosibirsk; President of the Association of Obstetricians-Gynecologists and Dermatovenerologists, Novosibirsk, Russia; khryanin@mail.ru, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9248-8303 (corresponding author)Asya V. Sokolovskaya, Cand. Sci. (Med.), Associate Professor, Department of Dermatovenereology and Cosmetology, Novosibirsk State Medical University, Novosibirsk, Russia; reversal@mail.ru, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3131-7874
Aleksandr P. Nadeev, Dr. Sci. (Med.), Professor, Head of the Department of Pathological Anatomy, Novosibirsk State Medical University, Novosibirsk, Russia; nadeevngma@mail.ru, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0400-1011
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