Is cutaneous plasmacytosis a distinct clinical entity?,☆☆

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Abstract

We describe a Japanese patient with cutaneous plasmacytosis whose clinical course we observed for 5 years. We also review 26 patients with this condition, including 24 Japanese and two non-Japanese, reported in detail. This review revealed that this condition has characteristic clinical and pathologic features and should be considered a distinct clinical entity. The reason for the predominant occurrence of cutaneous plasmacytosis in Japanese patients is unknown. (J Am Acad Dermatol 1997;36:876-80.)

Section snippets

CASE REPORT

A 27-year-old Japanese man had an asymptomatic eruption on the trunk for 3 years. He had six red-brown plaques up to 3 cm in diameter. During the next 5 years the number of plaques gradually increased, reaching a total of about 30 (Fig. 1) .

. Red-brown plaques up to 3 cm in diameter on patient's back.

However, the patient's general condition remained good. There was no lymphadenopathy and no anemia, fever, malaise, or dyspnea. The diagnosis was cutaneous plasmacytosis. Laboratory examination

REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Approximately 60 Japanese and two non-Japanese cases of skin lesions considered to be cutaneous plasmacytosis have been published in various forms, including abstracts. Of these, 30 cases were described in detail. The following four case reports were excluded from our review, although the title indicated the presence of cutaneous or systemic plasmacytosis: one case of plasma cell lymphocytoma, 6 one case of cutaneous plasmacytoma, 7 and two cases of systemic plasmacytosis without cutaneous

DISCUSSION

Our review of cutaneous plasmacytosis supports the concept of this disorder as a unique clinical entity. Extramedullary plasmacytoma and the other lymphoproliferative diseases in which plasma cells and lymphocytes are atypical and monoclonal have been ruled out. Plasmacytosis also should be differentiated from other diseases, including chronic infections, and collagen diseases that can be associated with a similar proliferation of plasma cells in the dermis.

It is debatable whether the diagnosis

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    Reprint requests: Satoko Shimizu, MD, Ogikubo Hospital, 3-1-24 Imagawa, Suginami, Tokyo, 167, Japan.

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