Auriculotemporal syndrome in childhood.

Sir, Because of the broad variability of clinical manifestations, paediatric dermatologists and allergologists are sometimes confronted with diagnostic difficulties when assessing food-associated reactions of the skin in children, particularly if allergological tests do not reveal any pathological results and specific elimination diets are ineffective. In these cases, children can suffer from rare diseases mimicking the cutaneous signs of food allergy. One of these diseases is the auriculotemporal syndrome, also known as Frey’s disease. Whereas it is more frequently observed in adults, e.g. after surgery to the parotid or submandibular glands, its overall occurrence in children has to be considered rare. The disease presents with a well-demarcated facial erythema and hyperhidrosis, which can be unilateral or bilateral, and, after a while, usually resolves spontaneously (3 – 5).