Juvenile plantar dermatosis: the “wet and dry foot syndrome”1

Abstract

Juvenile plantar dermatosis is a distinctive symmetrical fissuring dermatosis that affects the weight-bearing surfaces of the forefeet in prepubertal children. Most patients are hyperhidrotic and some are atopic; none has fungal disease or relevant contact allergy. The thick stratum corneum of the affected areas cracks as a result of being alternately too wet and too dry. Cure can be effected by preventing rapid drying of the skin.