Five Cases of Pediatric Cutaneous Mastocytosis and Autism Spectrum Disorder

Cutaneous mastocytosis and autism

Abstract

Here we report five cases of children with both Cutaneous Mastocytosis (CM), a pediatric condition of skin lesions containing mast cells, and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by impaired communication and obsessive behaviors. This apparent comorbidi-ty is intriguing given that the co-occurrence of these two conditions would be expected to be infrequent in the general population. The possible asso-ciation between CM and ASD is supported by increasing evidence indicating a strong association between atopic dermatitis (AD), which involves mast cells, and ASD. Activated mast cells in CM and AD could contribute to their patghogenesis, hence inhibiting mast cell activation may have considerable
benefit.