Are there any common skin eruptions that may be confused with acute cutaneous lupus erythematosus?

Many patients have complaints of erythema of the face due to a wide variety of conditions, but not all of them are photoinduced. The differential diagnosis of photosensitive eruptions of the face is not as broad and includes polymorphous light eruption, photoreactions to systemic medications and topical products, and certain types of porphyria (see Chapter 17). In addition, certain facial eruptions, such as rosacea, occasionally may be triggered or worsened by sun exposure. ACLE is an important cutaneous finding since it is strongly associated with SLE. Thus, patients with ACLE will have additional systemic complaints relating to SLE and will nearly always have a positive ANA test.