Clinicopathologic study of angiokeratoma and lesions resembling angiokeratoma

Abstract

Background: Angiokeratomas are vascular malformations that usually appear as multiple or solitary cutaneous papules, nodules, or plaques. Several clinical variants of angiokeratoma exist. The differential diagnosis of angiokeratoma can be difficult and some cases that are clinically suggestive of angiokeratoma are found to be caused by other diseases following skin biopsy. Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the diagnostic yield following analysis of clinically diagnosed angiokeratomas, which presented as multiple or solitary cutaneous papules, nodules, or plaques. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 36 patients who had visited the department of dermatology between January 2004 and December 2013, and who, following biopsy, had a clinical diagnosis of angiokeratoma or a differential diagnosis of angiokeratoma. We compared the clinical and histopathologic diagnoses, and analyzed the rate of concurrence and clinical features, including age, sex, location, and duration. Results: The angiokeratoma patients accounted for 61.1% of all new patients and their mean age was 32.2 years. The most common subtype was solitary angiokeratoma (11 cases, 50%). Histopathologic analysis showed that 38.9% of patients had a different type of disease and their mean age was 31.4 years. The most common causes of disease for this latter group were pyogenic granuloma (21.4%) and hemangioma (21.4%), followed by calcinosis cutis, dermatofibroma, neurofibroma, pilomatricoma, verruca vulgaris, and herpes viral infection. Conclusion: Lesions suggestive of angiokeratoma need further examination and a biopsy is useful to determine the correct differential diagnosis between angiokeratoma and other diseases, to avoid erroneous management.