Faculty Bibliography

We report a 52-year-old man with a one-year history of multiple, firm, skin-colored nodules on the vertex of the scalp. Histopathologic examination was consistent with a spiradenoma, which is a rare, benign adnexal tumor of controversial histogenesis. Multiple spiradenomas may arise in association with Brooke-Spiegler syndrome, which is an autosomal dominant condition of multiple cyclindromas, trichoeptheliomas, and cyclindromas.

A 50-year-old woman presented with a long history of multiple, flesh-colored papules and nodules on her central face, neck, and upper shoulders, as well as pink papules on her scalp. They were neither pruritic nor tender, but the patient desired treatment for cosmesis. Histopathologic examination of a representative facial lesion was consistent with a trichoepithelioma and an upper forehead papule was consistent with cylindroma. She reported a positive family history of similar lesions.

We present a unique case of S. marcescens folliculitis of the trunk in a 46-year-old woman with a history of facial acne vulgaris during her teen years. Her eruption occurred at the time of elective ambulatory surgery when she was treated with pre and post-operative antibiotics. The diagnosis of S. marcescens folliculitis was made on the basis of histopathologic features and tissue culture of a skin biopsy specimen of a pustule after her eruption was unresponsive to conventional treatment for inflammatory acne vulgaris. The history and pathophysiology of gram-negative folliculitis in the setting of acne vulgaris is reviewed.

A 41-year-old woman with a prior diagnosis of lupus erythematous presented with a five-year history of small, erythematous, flesh-colored papules and nodules that coalesced into symmetrically-distributed plaques on her upper back. A biopsy specimen showed an interstitial, granulomatous mixed-cell dermatitis with eosinophils. These clinicopathologic findings are consistent with a diagnosis of lupus erythematous-associated interstitial granulomatous dermatitis.

We present a case of acrokeratosis verruciformis of Hopf in a 58-year-old woman with multiple, skin-colored, flat-topped, hyperkeratotic papules on the dorsal aspects of the hands and feet. Her lesions appeared at age 13 and her son developed similar lesions at about the same age. Acrokeratosis verruciformis of Hopf is a rare genodermatosis, which is distinct from keratosis follicularis; sporadic cases have also been described. Management options include cryotherapy, keratolytics, superficial ablation with CO2 or Nd:YAG lasers, topical retinoids, and acitretin.

A 63-year-old woman with a ten-year history of systemic lupus erythematosus presented with a three-year history of a large, pruritic lesion that was located on the back and a pruritic lesion that was located on the right thumb. She was a baker by profession for many years during which time she often stood with her back to a hot oven. Physical examination of the lower back showed a large, atrophic, and reticulated plaque with a hyperpigmented border. On the right thumb was a well-demarcated, erythematous plaque with adjacent loss of the medial nail plate on the affected finger. Histopathology of both skin lesions showed cutaneous lupus erythematosus. This patient displays the Koebner phenomenon to heat in cutaneous (discoid) lupus erythematosus. We propose the term lupus ab-igne to describe her skin lesions. There are a few reports of the Koebner phenomenon occurring in patients with lupus erythematosus in response to contact dermatitis, tattoos, zoster, operative scars, scratching, or pressure from clothing. To our knowledge, this is the first report of heat as the physical factor leading to the formation of cutaneous lupus lesions.

A 60-year-old man presented with intermittent, tender, erythematous nodules on the legs that were associated with mild arthralgias. He was otherwise asymptomatic but reported a history of lupus anticoagulant antibodies that were discovered incidentally on laboratory screening at the approximate time that his lesions first occurred. A biopsy specimen showed a septal and lobular panniculitis with neutrophils, histiocytes, numerous eosinophils, foci of fibrosis, and fat necrosis but no vascular pathology. An elevated activated partial thromboplastin time (PTT), appreciably elevated levels of anti-beta-2 glycoprotein I antibody (IgM and IgG), and moderately elevated levels of anticardiolipin antibody (IgM and IgG) were present. The onset and recurrence of his skin condition coincided with increased antiphospholipid antibody levels and treatment with 81 mg aspirin daily was associated with improvement.

Sarcoidosis is a multi-system, granulomatous disease, which affects the skin in approximately 20 to 30 percent of cases. Recognition of cutaneous sarcoidosis can be challenging because of the wide range of skin lesion morphologies. Ulcerative sarcoidosis is uncommon. We present a 35-year-old woman with pretibial ulcerative sarcoidosis, indurated tattoos, and hilar lymphadenopathy.

The leishmaniases are a group of diseases caused by species of Leishmania and transmitted by the bite of the female sandfly. The major clinical forms include localized or disseminated cutaneous, mucocutaneous, and visceral disease. Localized cutaneous leishmaniasis is most frequently caused by L. major and L. tropica in the Old World and by L. braziliensis, L. mexicana, and related species in the New World. L. donovani generally causes visceral disease in the Old World. We describe a case of disseminated cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by L. donovani in a traveller returning to the United States from Italy. Dermatologists should be aware of the clinical manifestations of leishmaniasis.

Necrobiotic xanthogranuloma (NXG) is a rare, chronic, progressive, non-Langerhans histiocytosis that is strongly associated with hematologic malignant conditions. Only about 100 cases have been reported in the literature since it was first described in 1980. It is important for dermatologists to recognize NXG and initiate a prompt hematologic evaluation. IgG kappa is the most frequently discovered monoclonal gammopathy (65%), followed by IgG lambda (35%), and, much less commonly, IgA. Although no modality has been shown to be consistently effective, therapeutic options include glucocorticoids (topical, intralesional, and/or systemic), alkylating agents (chlorambucil and cyclophosphamide). interferon alpha, antimetabolites, antibiotics, thalidomide, and plasmaphersis.