Solar urticaria, an uncommon photosensitivity disorder, may be disabling for affected patients, especially those who react after short exposures to artificial or natural light. The spectrodermograph, a newly developed instrument, permits rapid, accurate determination of the action spectrum of solar urticaria. It consists of a xenon arc lamp with an emission dispersed into used to establish the wavelengths responsible for solar urticaria in 12 patients during the past four years. Knowledge of the wavelengths responsible for producing the urticarial reaction has implications for selecting appropriate therapy. The clinical course of these patients is also reviewed.

Cutaneous collagenous vasculopathy is a rare pauci‐inflammatory, superficial, cutaneous vasculopathy characterized by progressive fine‐branching telangiectasias clinically, while light microscopically one observes dilated venules and capillaries within the superficial dermis exhibiting excessive Type IV collagen within the vessel wall. We present three cases of collagenous vasculopathy. Two cases were associated with certain autoimmune stigmata, including a positive serologic anti‐endothelial cell antibody assay and positive lupus anticoagulant in one, while the third case had positive anti‐ribonucleoprotein (RNP) antibodies. The latter case was associated with chronic hydroxyurea therapy for an underlying myeloproliferative disorder. We explore the role of immune‐ and non‐immune‐based endothelial cell injury in the pathogenesis of collagenous vasculopathy.

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