Acta Dermato-Venereologica 99-6CompleteContent | Page 30
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Ulcers and Scars on the Trunk of a 20-month-old Boy: A Quiz
Tal GOLDBERGER 1 , Alexander MALY 2 , Tamar HAREL 3 and Vered MOLHO-PESSACH 1 *
Departments of 1 Dermatology, 2 Pathology, and 3 Human Genetics, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Kiryat Hadassah, POB 12000,
Jerusalem, 9112001, Israel. *E-mail: [email protected]
A 20-month-old boy was brought for examination due to
numerous ulcers over his upper trunk, of 6 months duration.
He was a single child to first-degree cousins of Arab Pales-
tinian descent. The parents denied any trauma preceding the
appearance of the ulcers. Treatment with emollients, topical
corticosteroids and topical antibiotics had not resulted in
clinical improvement. The child had history of neonatal
stridor and chronic hoarseness, but was otherwise healthy.
Fiber optic laryngoscopy did not reveal any structural ab-
normalities in the vocal cords or larynx.
Physical examination revealed numerous symmetrically
distributed, round-oval, punched-out ulcers, as well as
depressed erythematous and skin-coloured scars on the
mid- and upper back, shoulders and thorax (Fig. 1A). Thin
hair and dry skin were also noted. A 3-mm punch biopsy
was obtained from a lesion on the left shoulder.
Histopathological evaluation demonstrated a hyper-
trophic scar, composed mainly of fibroblasts and myofi-
broblasts (which stained positively for actin), as well as a
Periodic acid–Schiff (PAS)-positive hyaline thickening of
a capillary wall in the superficial dermis (Fig. 1B).
What is your diagnosis? See next page for answer.
Fig. 1. (A) Multiple symmetrically distributed, round-
oval, depressed scars on the back of a 20-month-old
boy. (B) Histopathological examination of a skin biopsy
specimen (haematoxylin-eosin, original magnification
×600) showing Periodic acid–Schiff (PAS)-positive
hyaline material around small blood vessels (arrows)
in the superficial dermis.
QUIZ SECTION
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license. www.medicaljournals.se/acta
Journal Compilation © 2019 Acta Dermato-Venereologica.
doi: 10.2340/00015555-3153
Acta Derm Venereol 2019; 99: 629–630