Background: Grovers's disease may be triggered by bed rest.
Methods: We have prospectively analyzed, over a 30-month period, all cases of transient acantholytic dermatosis (TAD) diagnosed in the context of a dermatological consultation for inpatients of a community hospital.
Results: A total of 28 cases of TAD were diagnosed within a total of 3,750 patients examined (0.8%). The mean age of patients with TAD was 66.7 years, and the male-to-female ratio was 1.8. In 83% of cases the length of hospitalization preceding TAD was 66.7 years, and the male-to-female ratio was 1.8. In 83% of cases the length of hospitalization preceding TAD exceeded 2 weeks, and in all cases there was an association with strict bed rest. No association with malignant disease or other specific pathologies was observed.
Conclusion: Our results suggest that TAD, which is frequent in elderly patients within a hospital setting, is not paraneoplastic and favor the hypothesis of a sweat-related pathogenesis.