From moulage to metrics: Bibliometric survey of visual arts in dermatopathology and dermatology.

BACKGROUND: Both dermatopathology and dermatology are highly visual medical specialties. We performed a bibliometric literature survey of the visual arts in reference to either discipline to better understand how medical literature approaches art within the context of the two specialties. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a bibliometric analysis of publications found via multiple medical search engines and selected keywords meant to capture art-related publications in dermatopathology and dermatology. Keywords (art, portrait, painting, dermatology, dermatopathology) and keyword combinations were entered into the search engines PubMed, Google Scholar, Science Direct, Pubs Hub, and Scopus. Topics of articles, years of publication, countries of origin, and contributing journals were compiled and analyzed. RESULTS: Eighty publications were retrieved between January 1903 and August 2021. The highest number of articles were found in both PubMed and Google Scholar (n = 55), and the top publication year was 2020 (n = 11). Geographically, the United States of America (n = 38) had the greatest number of articles. The dermatology and art keyword combination yielded the most journal articles (n = 36), and the maximum number of publications were retrieved from JAMA Dermatology (n = 14) followed by the American Journal of Dermatopathology (n = 10). CONCLUSION: Our survey showed an increasing number of publications related to the visual arts and dermatopathology/dermatology during the examined period, and a transition from observational case studies (often relating to art history) to articles examining the incorporation of the visual arts into medical training programs or professional societies.

Solitary Vulvar Syringoma With Deep Extension; Potential for Misdiagnosis as the Microcystic Adnexal Carcinoma (MAC).

ABSTRACT: A 43-year-old woman presented with a palpable, pruritic, minimally painful right vulvar lesion. Physical examination revealed approximately 2.0-cm tender nodule at 70' clock in the right labia majora. Histological sections of the excision specimen showed an unremarkable epidermis with large, well-circumscribed dermal proliferation with extension to the reticular dermis. Within this proliferation are small solid and ductal structures relatively evenly distributed in the sclerotic stroma. The epithelial elements consisted of monomorphous cuboidal cells and assumed round, oval, curvilinear, or have other peculiar geometric shapes, including "comma-like" or "tadpole"-like configurations. The tumor cells were positive for CEA, EMA, and estrogen receptor and negative for progesterone receptor. The clinical presentation and the deep extension of the tumor were similar to the microcystic adnexal carcinoma. Although a syringoma generally presents with multiple lesions and usually involves the superficial dermis, a syringoma with deep extension was favored based on the lack of follicular differentiation, atypia, mitoses, and perineural invasion. Microcystic adnexal carcinoma and syringoma have a morphologic overlap and are misdiagnosed in 30% of the cases. Thus, it is exceptionally important for pathologists to be aware of and be able to distinguish these entities. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of a solitary, painful vulvar syringoma with deep extension.

Primary Cutaneous Ewing Sarcoma of the Scalp With Metastasis to the Lung: An Unusual Manifestation During Pregnancy.

ABSTRACT: A 32-year-old G2P1L1 (5 months pregnant) woman presented with a 3-month history of a slow-growing cystic lesion on her scalp vertex. Similar lesions in the exact location were excised twice in the past with a diagnosis of trichilemmal carcinoma (TC). A biopsy of the scalp lesion showed morphology and immunoprofile consistent with previously diagnosed TC. Staging PET/CT demonstrated a 4.7 cm right upper lobe lung, and a subsequent lung biopsy showed a small, round blue-cell tumor with necrosis, morphologically identical to the prior biopsies from the scalp. Considering the unusual clinical course of TC, a lung biopsy was sent for next-generation sequencing that showed EWSR1-FLI1 (type1) fusion. Additionally, CD99 immunostaining revealed uniform cytoplasmic and membranous staining in the tumor cells. The previous scalp excision specimen was also sent for mutation analysis, which showed EWSR1-FLI1 fusion. In conjunction with clinical history and histological and molecular findings, a definitive diagnosis of primary cutaneous Ewing sarcoma (PCES) with local recurrence and metastasis to the lung was made. We present a case of PCES, which was previously misdiagnosed and treated as TC. This case emphasizes the importance of CD99 in the initial screening of cutaneous small round blue-cell tumors to avoid misdiagnosis from other morphological overlaps. Also, despite its rarity, PCES should be included in the differential diagnosis of small, round, blue cell tumors at cutaneous sites. Our case also exemplifies common biases in medical decision-making, including premature closure and anchoring bias which can result in misdiagnosis or diagnostic delay and associated delay in appropriate management.

Mechanic Hands/Hiker Feet in a Patient With Amyopathic Dermatomyositis and Interstitial Lung Disease.

ABSTRACT: A 30-year-old African American woman with a history of interstitial lung disease presented with bilaterally symmetrical, nonpruritic, scaling and fissuring, hyperpigmented, lichenified plaques on her hands and feet. She reported occasional erythema of her face, intermittent erythema, and irritation of her eyes but denied any muscle weakness. A biopsy of the plantar first toe showed hyperkeratosis, striking alternating ortho- and parakeratosis with underlying apoptotic bodies. There was psoriasiform acanthosis without suprapapillary thinning, numerous apoptotic keratinocytes in all layers of the epidermis extending into the corneum that were out of proportion with the minimal interface inflammation. Colloidal iron and Alcian blue stains showed increased dermal mucin deposition. Given the clinical, histopathological, and supportive serological findings (positive anti-KU and anti-SSA), a diagnosis of clinically amyopathic dermatomyositis with mechanic hand/hiker feet (MH/HF) was rendered. The pseudocheckerboard pattern of MH/HF has been previously reported in only 4 patients. The most frequent associations with MH/HF are dermatomyositis and antisynthetase syndrome; however, our patient was negative for antiaminoacyl transfer RNA synthetase antibodies, a required criterion to diagnose antisynthetase syndrome. It is imperative to recognize MH/HF clinically and histopathologically because it may be an early indication of developing dermatomyositis or other connective tissue diseases, which would guide further workup and screening for systemic involvement of the disease, including interstitial lung disease.

A Case of Primary Myelofibrosis With Transformation to Leukemia Cutis.

ABSTRACT: We report an extraordinary case of primary myelofibrosis with transformation to leukemia cutis. A 64-year-old Caucasian man with a history of JAK2-positive primary myelofibrosis presented with erythematous papulonodules on his right lower extremity. A punch biopsy revealed a normal epidermis with an underlying diffuse dermal infiltrate composed of medium-to-large-sized myeloid cells and leukocytes. Neoplastic cells were immunoreactive for LCA, CD34, CD61, CD117, and CD68 and negative for lysozyme, CD20, CD3, myeloperoxidase, and TdT. These findings were consistent with a diagnosis of leukemia cutis. A concurrent bone marrow biopsy demonstrated a markedly fibrotic, hypercellular marrow without a significant increase in blasts. With no morphologic evidence of bone marrow involvement by acute myeloid leukemia, our case suggests that the patient's primary myelofibrosis transformed to leukemia cutis. Our patient died 2 months after the onset of his skin nodules. Our case demonstrates that leukemia cutis should be included in the differential diagnosis for cutaneous nodular lesions in patients with a history of an advanced-stage hematological malignancy.

Localized Urinary Bladder Amyloidosis as Urothelial Cancer Mimicker.

CONTEXT.­: Localized amyloidosis of the bladder is rare and often mimics bladder malignancy. It is typically associated with the extracellular deposition of monoclonal light chains, either κ or λ. The cause is unknown, but it is thought to be due to chronic inflammation/cystitis. OBJECTIVE.­: To highlight the importance of localized urinary bladder amyloidosis as a rare mimicker of urothelial malignancy and elucidate its clinical, histopathologic, and cytopathologic manifestations. DESIGN.­: Cases of urinary bladder amyloidosis diagnosed during 2000-2023 were retrieved retrospectively from pathology archives. Electronic medical records, including cystoscopy findings and pathology slides including Congo red stain, were reviewed. RESULTS.­: Here we present 6 patients with localized urinary bladder amyloidosis. Four of the 6 patients were women, with ages ranging from 46 to 69 years, and a mean age of 58 years. Five of 6 patients presented with hematuria, while in 1 patient, bladder amyloidosis was discovered incidentally. Cystoscopy findings invariably were concerning for malignancy, with raised erythema in 5 patients and fungating mass protruding into the bladder lumen in 1 patient. Bladder biopsies and urine cytology were negative for malignancy in all cases. Congo red-positive amyloid deposits involved lamina propria with sparing of the detrusor muscle. In 5 cases, the deposits were typed as derived from the λ light chain, whereas no information was available for 1 patient. Subsequent clinical workup ruled out systemic amyloidosis. CONCLUSIONS.­: These cases of urinary bladder amyloidosis highlight the importance of considering rare amyloidosis in the differential diagnosis of hematuria and cystoscopy with a lesion mimicking malignancy.

Isolated leukemia cutis as extramedullary relapse of acute myeloid leukemia.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) arises from clonal expansion of malignant hematopoietic precursor cells in the bone marrow. In rare instances, AML can recur with prominent extramedullary manifestations (i.e., leukemia cutis or myeloid sarcoma), either simultaneously or preceding marrow involvement, or as a sole site of primary disease relapse.

Ganglion Cyst Presenting as an External Auditory Canal Mass.

A ganglion cyst of the temporomandibular joint is a benign lesion that may present as a mass on the anterior wall of the external auditory canal and should be differentiated from other skull base pathology prior to management.