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| Fig. 62.1 Futcher’s (Voigt’s) line of the upper arm. (Courtesy of James E. Fitzpatrick, MD.) |
Futcher’s lines, also known as
Voigt’s lines or
Futcher-Voigtlines or
Ito’s lines, are areas of abrupt demarcation between lighter and darker pigmented skin. Common locations include the anterior arms, the sternum, and the posterior thighs and legs (Fig. 62-1). There appears to be no appreciable difference in melanin concentration between the adjacent darker and lighter areas when examined by light microscopy. The distribution and symmetry of the lines allows differentiation from other diagnoses, such as hypomelanosis of Ito, incontinentia pigmenti, linear epidermal nevus, or lichen striatus. Interestingly, drug eruptions have, on occasion, affected preferentially the skin on one side of the line, suggesting the skin in these areas has slightly different embryologic origin, at least with regard to a susceptibility to metabolic insult.
James WD, Carter JM, Rodman OG: Pigmentary demarcation lines: a population survey,
J Am Acad Dermatol 16:584–590, 1987.
Shelley ED, Shelley WB, Pansky B: The drug line: the clinical expression of the pigmentary Voigt-Futcher line in turn derived from the embryonic ventral axial line,
J Am Acad Dermatol 40:736–740, 1999.
