Histiocitosis de células de Langerhans en menores de un a？o

introduction. langerhans cell histiocytosis is characterized by a clonal proliferation of activated langerhans cells that infiltrate various organs of the body. occurs at any age, from newborn until adulthood, with an incidence peak at 1-4 years. objective. to describe the morphologyc characteristics of skin lesions and clinical course of 15 patients with langerhans cell histiocytosis. methods. a retrospective review of the medical records of patients with langerhans cell histiocytosis from ramos mejia hospital and aleman hospital, between 1999-2007. results. review of medical records from 15 patients, 6 females and 9 males. skin lesions were congenital in 8 cases and appeared between 2-12 months of age in 7 cases. the patients with congenital presentation only had a cutaneous manifestation; one patient who developed a systemic compromise (lung, liver and spleen) is currently under treatment. three patients with presentation after birth only had cutaneous lesions, the others had a sistemic disease. one of this patients died during treatment. histopathology showed a histiocytic infiltrate in the papilary dermis with epidermotrophism; inmunomarking with s100 and cd1a was positive. conclusion. both clinical manifestation (congenital and after birth) represent different ends of a spectrum of the same condition, with the potencial to develop into disseminated langerhans cell histiocytosis.