Scleromyxedema: a multicenter study of characteristics, comorbidities, course, and therapy in 30 patients.

BACKGROUND: Scleromyxedema is associated with a monoclonal gammopathy and other comorbidities. Its prognostic and therapeutic features are poorly documented because most reports deal with single cases or small series. OBJECTIVE: We sought to describe the characteristics of patients with scleromyxedema regarding demographics, clinical characteristics, comorbidities, therapeutic interventions, and course. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective and prospective multicenter study. RESULTS: We identified 30 patients with scleromyxedema (17 men and 13 women). The mean age at diagnosis was 59 years. The mean delay between disease onset and diagnosis was 9 months. Monoclonal gammopathy was detected in 27 patients. Extracutaneous manifestations were present in 19 patients including neurologic (30%), rheumatologic (23.3%), and cardiac (20%) manifestations. Two patients developed hematologic malignancies. The most common therapies included oral steroids and intravenous immunoglobulins. Although corticosteroids were ineffective, intravenous immunoglobulins (alone or in combination with other drugs) induced complete remission in 4 and partial remission in 9 patients with a mean treatment duration of 2 years. In all, 21 patients were followed up for a mean period of 33.5 months, at which time 16 patients were alive, 12 with and 4 without skin disease. Five patients died: 2 with dermatoneuro syndrome and 1 each with myeloid leukemia, Hodgkin lymphoma, and myocardial insufficiency. LIMITATIONS: This is mainly a retrospective study. CONCLUSIONS: Our study confirms that scleromyxedema is a chronic and unpredictable disease with severe systemic manifestations leading to a guarded prognosis. There is no specific definitive treatment. Our data support the contention that intravenous immunoglobulin is a relatively effective and safe treatment. The response is not permanent and maintenance infusions are required.

Scleromyxedema and lichen myxedematosus: Is it associated with viral hepatitis?

Scleromyxedema (SM) was previously known to be associated with monoclonal gammopathy. The association of SM and its counterpart lichen myxedematosus (LM) with chronic hepatitis has rarely been reported. We retrospectively reviewed medical records and histopathological reports of consecutive patients who presented at our department with the diagnosis of SM or LM from January 2001 to September 2017. The patients' demographic details, cutaneous presentation, associated underlying diseases and hepatitic profile were studied and compared with previous published cases. In all, 28 patients were enrolled, including one SM, 19 LM and eight atypical LM. Of the patients, 50% (n = 14/28) had hepatitis. Of these, 21.4% (n = 6/28) had hepatitis C, 10.7% (n = 3/28) hepatitis B, 7.1% (n = 2/28) concurrent hepatitis B and C, whereas 10.7% (n = 3/28) had alcoholic liver disease. The prevalence of hepatitis C in our patients was 6.5-times higher than that of the general population (28.6% vs 4.4%) and the prevalence of hepatitis B was similar (17.9% vs 17.3%). Polyclonal gammopathy was found in 28.6% (n = 8/28) of the patients and monoclonal gammopathy was found in 7.1% (n = 2/28). The extent of clonality did not correlate with disease severity. Our study did not notice a significant association with monoclonal gammopathy but the prevalence of hepatitis C was found to increase 6.5-times in these patients compared with the general population. We recommend dermatologists to be aware of hepatitis investigations in such patients and future studies are warranted to understand the mechanism behind such association.

Discrete papular lichen myxedematosus: a rare entity or an under- diagnosed disease?

Primary cutaneous mucinoses are characterized by abnormal mucin deposits in the skin. Discrete papular lichenmyxedematosus (DPLM) is an unusual subtype which is characterized by the presence of multiples smooth, waxy, or flesh-colored papules, 2 to 5 mm in size affecting the trunk and limbs and most commonly proximal sites. We report a 42-year-old man with both the clinical and histopathological described criteria.