1/13. onchocerciasis presenting with lower extremity, hypopigmented macules.onchocerciasis, or river blindness, is a parasitic infection caused by the filarial nematode, onchocerca volvulus. It infects 18 million people worldwide, but is rarely seen in the united states. It is one of the leading causes of blindness in the developing world. Although onchocerciasis is also known as river blindness, it is not just a disease of the eyes, but rather a chronic multisystem disease. Clinically, onchocerciasis takes three forms: 1) eye disease; 2) subcutaneous nodules; and 3) a pruritic hypopigmented or hyperpigmented papular dermatitis. We present an 18-year-old African female with a 5-year history of asymptomatic, hypopigmented, slightly atrophic macules on her anterior tibiae. pathology revealed a scant perivascular inflammatory infiltrate with mononuclear cells, eosinophils, and rare microfilariae in the papillary dermis. ivermectin is the treatment of choice for onchocerciasis and was initiated in this patient. We present this interesting patient with onchocerciasis to expand our differential of hypopigmented macules, especially in the African population. In addition, we discuss both the diagnosis and the treatment of onchocerciasis in expatriate patients living in nonendemic areas.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = dermis (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/13. A unique variant of Darier's disease.A 45-year-old black woman presented with a chief complaint of an increasing number of "light spots" on her face, upper trunk, and legs. She had a 4-year history of a pruritic eruption on the dorsum of her hands. The eruption was particularly pruritic in the summer months. Other family members, including her sister and her daughters, reportedly had a similar dermatologic problem. The patient had been previously evaluated and biopsied by another dermatologist. The earlier biopsy was nondiagnostic, however, and she presented for further evaluation of this problem. On physical examination, the patient had hypopigmented macules along her jawline (Fig. 1), lateral neck, and upper chest. She had similar hypopigmented macules on her thighs. She had hyperkeratosis of the palmoplantar surface of her hands and feet. The dorsum of her hands had numerous coalescing, shiny, flat-topped, hypopigmented papules (Fig. 2), and several of her fingernails had distal, V-shaped notching. A punch biopsy from a papule on the dorsum of her hand was obtained. The epidermis had corps ronds present with focal areas of acantholysis above the basal layer (Fig. 3). The dermis had sparse, superficial, perivascular infiltrates composed of lymphocytes and histiocytes. These changes were consistent with our clinical diagnosis of Darier's disease (keratosis follicularis).- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 2keywords = dermis (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/13. Naevus anaemicus with teleangiectatic vessels.We describe a 20-year-old man with naevus anaemicus on the chest where, after dermabrasion of the epidermis, enlarged teleangiectatic dark-red vessels were seen within the previously pale area. They were clearly different from those seen on dermabrasion at this site in normal skin and in patients with vitiligo where the area is lighter red with only small punctual bleedings from arterial capillaries. The naevus anaemicus and a port-wine stain (naevus flammeus) in the same location is a phenomenon of vascular twin spotting, which was revealed when the epidermis was removed. The area was transplanted with thin epidermal grafts and healed within 2 weeks. One year later the naevus looked the same as before grafting. Much thicker grafts than those used by us will be needed, but they are not cosmetically acceptable.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 2keywords = dermis (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/13. Hypermelanocytic guttate and macular segmental hypomelanosis.We report two sisters, 27 and 30 years of age, with a cutaneous pigmentary anomaly, which seems to be a new entity. At the age of 26 years the elder sister developed an asymptomatic and persistent rash consisting of discrete, grouped, round to oval, guttate and nummular, hypopigmented macules, 0.2-5 cm in diameter. The distribution of the lesions was unilateral. They were located on the right side of the thorax with a moderately sharp demarcation in the mid-line and ran in a segmental distribution over the right arm, hand and fingers. Microscopic examination of lesional skin scrapings was negative for fungi. Examination with wood's light accentuated the lesions from the surrounding normal skin. The younger sister had experienced identical, mostly guttate, skin lesions for many years, which at examination were distributed on all extremities and buttocks, and to a lesser degree on the trunk, but here in a segmental distribution. Histological examination (Masson-Fontana staining) of lesional skin of both sisters was identical. A slightly thinned epidermis and a marked decrease in pigmentation of the epidermal basal layer was seen. Electron microscopic examination of lesional skin showed an overall linear increase of morphologically and cytologically normal melanocytes just above the epidermal basal membrane. At many places the density of melanocytes was so high that the keratinocytes were displaced from the basal layer. The melanocytic dendrites extended into the suprabasal layer. The keratinocytes of lesional skin showed a decreased number of melanosomes. It is paradoxical that a hypomelanotic macule shows a histological picture of an increase in normal functioning melanocytes. In all probability a deficient melanosome transfer is responsible for this unexpected phenomenon.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = dermis (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/13. Unilateral congenital linear atrophoderma of the leg.We report an infant with depressed, hypopigmented, linear plaques of congenital onset on the lower extremity. The lesions were asymptomatic and the child was otherwise healthy. Despite the clinically obvious change in skin texture and color, histopathologic changes were subtle: a biopsy specimen showed hypopigmentation and a decrease in elastic fibers in the papillary and upper reticular dermis. Diagnoses considered included various congenital syndromes, idiopathic atrophoderma of Pasini and Pierini, and especially, linear atrophoderma of Moulin. However, because of the significant clinical and histopathologic differences when compared to the aforementioned entities, our patient appears to have a unique presentation of congenital linear atrophoderma.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = dermis (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/13. Selective decrease of eumelanin in hypopigmented epidermis of hypomelanosis of Ito.A Japanese infant had bilateral hypopigmented macules in a whorled or marble-cakelike configuration on her trunk and extremities. Her irides were bluish gray and her hair was dark brown. She had photophobia and macrocephaly with developmental delay. Analysis of peripheral lymphocytes and dermal fibroblasts disclosed a normal chromosomal pattern. A new finding was that the eumelanin content of the hypopigmented epidermis was decreased. We suggest that at least a portion of patients with this disorder have a defect in eumelanogenesis in hypopigmented skin.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 5keywords = dermis (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/13. Brown papules and leukoderma in Darier's disease: clinical and histological features.We report a Japanese case of Darier's disease with brown and white papules or maculae distributed on the neck, trunk and dorsa of hands. Both brown papules and leukoderma showed typical histological features of Darier's disease. Moreover, there were much fewer melanocytes and melanosomes in the epidermis of both lesions. The corneal layer of the brown papules was far thicker than that of the leukoderma. Therefore, the thick corneal layer of the brown papules may prolong the retention of a few melanosomes or a little melanin to induce hyperpigmentation, while the thin corneal layer of leukoderma may not do so, thereby producing hypopigmentation. The difference in clinical and histological courses after involvement of melanocytes was proposed to be the cause of the discrepancy between the previous reports. We conclude that leukoderma was the primary lesion, the postinflammatory depigmented spots, or the atypical or subclinical eruption of Darier's disease.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = dermis (Clic here for more details about this article) |
8/13. Histopathological evaluation of halo phenomenon in Spitz nevus.We saw a patient with a Spitz nevus surrounded by a halo of depigmentation. Although the halo phenomenon is often seen in pigmented melanocytic nevus, an association of this phenomenon with Spitz nevus seems to be rare. Moreover, histopathological findings showed focal lymphoid infiltration in the epidermis of the depigmented halo and marked infiltration in dermal epithelioid nevus cell nests. Thus, it is suggested that identical mechanisms are involved in the destruction of epidermal melanocytes and dermal nevus cells in halo Spitz nevus.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = dermis (Clic here for more details about this article) |
9/13. Mammary Paget's disease confined to the areola and associated with multifocal Toker cell hyperplasia.A hitherto unreported variant of mammary Paget's disease (MPD) limited to the areola, leaving the nipple unaffected, has been analyzed by serial sectioning of the whole areola and nipple. This otherwise characteristic MPD proved to be confined to the epidermis. There was no underlying carcinoma. This MPD was associated with a multifocal presence of monomorphic but otherwise similar cells in small collections surrounding the ostia of areolar mammary glands in the clinically unaffected area. This condition was interpreted as hyperplasia of mammary gland-related cells also found in normal nipples (so-called Toker cells). The observations hint at a possible derivation of some cases of mammary and extramammary Paget's disease from such Toker cells.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = dermis (Clic here for more details about this article) |
10/13. Malignant histiocytosis presenting as multiple erythematous plaques and cutaneous depigmentation.We report on a patient with malignant histiocytosis (MH) presenting as multiple erythematous plaques and cutaneous depigmentation on her neck and chest. In a biopsy of an erythematous plaque, atypical large, foamy histiocytes infiltrated the dermis and positively stained with antibodies to lysozyme, leukocyte common antigen, and KP-1 (CD68). A few similar atypical cells were present in the superficial dermis focally in the depigmented areas. With use of immunohistochemical studies, most cases previously diagnosed as MH have been reclassified as T-cell lymphoma, b-cell lymphoma, or Ki-1-positive anaplastic large cell lymphoma. However, a few cases of "true" MH characterized by authentic histiocytes have been reported, presenting usually as red nodules. To our knowledge, our patient is the first with MH to present with erythematous plaques and vitiligo-like depigmentation.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 2keywords = dermis (Clic here for more details about this article) |
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