ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a case study of 14-year-old boy who attends the dermatology out-patient clinic with his mother. He is increasingly troubled by blisters. The blisters affect the plantar surfaces of his feet, particularly the heel, below the metatarsal heads and toes. There is nothing abnormal to find on full examination except for several tense non-inflammatory blisters in an asymmetrical distribution over the weight-bearing aspects of the plantar surface of both feet. The patient gives a story which is suggestive of a mechano-bullous skin disorder. The positive family history supports an autosomal dominant pattern of inheritance. The patient’s history is typical of epidermolysis bullosa (EB) simplex with a localized distribution. EB simplex is a group of disorders characterized by intra-epidermal blistering. Blistering is worse in warm weather as sweat increases friction in footwear. There are different forms of epidermolysis bullosa with site and severity of blistering varying according to the molecular defect.
