Multifocal infantile hemangiomas associated with concomitant giant hepatic rapidly involuting congenital hemangioma.

We present a 9-day-old girl with multifocal cutaneous and hepatic infantile hemangiomas as well as a hepatic rapidly involuting congenital hemangioma. These two distinct vascular tumors have rarely been reported to co-occur. We additionally review the sonographic features that distinguish a hepatic congenital hemangioma from the hepatic infantile hemangioma.

Concurrent mycosis fungoides and intravascular large B-cell lymphoma in a single patient.

Mycosis fungoides (MF) is an indolent, uncommon, non-Hodgkin T-cell lymphoma of the skin. It classically presents with patches, plaques, and tumors and may rarely show spread to internal organs or bone marrow. Up to 7.5% of MF patients may be diagnosed with a second malignancy. Intravascular large B-cell lymphoma (IVLBCL) is an exceedingly rare non-Hodgkin B-cell lymphoma characterized by predominant growth of large neoplastic cells in the lumina of blood vessels. This case presents with an unusual confluence of two rare diagnoses, MF and IVLBCL, made more remarkable by the presence of both diagnoses on a single skin biopsy sample.

Atypical presentations of congenital hemangiomas: Extending the clinical phenotype.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Congenital hemangiomas (CH) are a group of benign vascular tumors that are present at birth and exhibit variable involution during infancy. Congenital hemangiomas that do not involute are typically solitary patch or plaque-type tumors that grow proportionally with somatic growth. We report a case series of 9 patients with persistent CH, which exhibited uncommon features including segmental involvement, recurrent or severe pain, or growth via volumetric increase in size or apparent increased extent of anatomic involvement over time. METHODS: Via retrospective chart review, we included patients with persistent CH and atypical presentations. Available data regarding clinical characteristics, natural history, histopathology, imaging, and genetic tests were collected. RESULTS: Data on 9 patients were collected, including 7 noninvoluting CH and 2 partially involuting CH. Three of the 9 cases had segmental distribution, 6 had apparent growth or clinical evolution, and 4 were symptomatic with pain. One also had marked localized intravascular coagulopathy. CONCLUSIONS: Ongoing or recurrent pain and large extent of anatomic involvement can be features of CH, albeit uncommon ones, and can pose both diagnostic and management challenges. Tissue genomic studies can offer a novel tool for CH diagnosis.

Serpiginous Purpuric Eruption of the Leg.

A previously healthy 68-year-old male presented with a rash on his right lower leg. The lesions had spread along the leg since onset 9 days prior, and the patient reported localized soreness and pruritus. He denied systemic symptoms including fever, fatigue, myalgia, joint pain, and recent illness. Physical examination revealed a serpiginous, purpuric eruption on the anterior and posterior right thigh and lower leg. A 4mm punch biopsy from the right lower leg revealed a Th2 dominant process reflective of a type IV delayed hypersensitivity reaction. Superficial and deep angiocentric and eccrinotropic lymphocytic infiltrate and tissue eosinophilia were noted. Degranulated eosinophils forming 'flame figures' were also identified with accompanying mural edema and red blood cell extravasation. Further evaluation revealed an elevated antistreptolysin O antibody, though the remainder of the work up was unremarkable. Clinicohistopathologic correlation supported the diagnosis of Blaschkolinear purpuric Wells' Syndrome. This case highlights a unique presentation of a rare inflammatory dermatosis, and serves as a reminder that given Wells' can be associated with underlying malignancy, an age appropriate work up, based on patient history and presentation, may be warranted.

J Drugs Dermatol. 2017;16(10):1036-1038.

Topical Approaches to Improve Surgical Outcomes and Wound Healing: A Review of Efficacy and Safety.

Surgical procedures are an important piece of a dermatologist's daily practice. Therefore, the optimization of post-surgical wound healing is an area of utmost importance and interest. Although low risk, one notable barrier to proper wound healing is surgical site infection.

In an attempt to mitigate this risk and improve surgical outcomes, multiple topical products continue to be used both pre- and postprocedure. Traditionally, this includes both topical antibiotics and antiseptics. However, these products are not without consequence.

The overuse of topical antibiotics as prophylaxis for infection has contributed to increased bacterial resistance, and in fact is no longer recommended by the American Academy of Dermatology in clean post surgical wounds. Topical antiseptics, including chlorhexidine and povidone-iodine, can have a cytotoxic effect on keratinocytes and may actually impede wound healing as a result. In addition, chlorhexidine in particular can produce both otologic and ocular toxic effects when used on the face. Emerging products, such as hypochlorous acid, may be a potential alternative to the more commonly used agents, as it has effective antimicrobial actions and minimal adverse effects. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to highlight several topical products used to optimize post-surgical wound healing and discuss both their efficacy and safety.

J Drugs Dermatol. 2017;16(3):209-212.

Using global gene expression to discriminate thin melanomas with poor outcomes.

Most melanomas present as thin lesions (≤1.0 mm) with a good prognosis; however, a small percentage of patients with thin lesions experience recurrence or metastasis. The aim of our study was to identify a distinct pattern of gene expression within thin melanomas known to have eventually metastasized to regional lymph nodes or distant sites compared with those that followed the typical course with good response to wide local excision alone. Patients who were disease-free for a minimum of 10 y served as controls (n = 10) to the experimental group who developed metastasis (n = 9). Laser capture microdissection was used to specifically isolate cancer cells from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue with subsequent gene expression analysis on Affymetrix Human Transcriptome Array 2.0 Arrays. Although gene expression differences were observed between the patients with thin melanoma with poor clinical outcome and those with good clinical outcome, neither the number of genes nor the magnitude of the fold difference was very substantial or significant. Cluster analysis with this subset of genes could definitively separate a subset of the poor responders from the good responders, but there remained a mixed group of tumors that could not be predicted from gene expression alone. Pathway analysis identified cellular processes that were regulated based on the response, including categories commonly associated with melanoma progression. Ultimately, we concluded that there were very few differences between these groups. Future research will be required and investigation of the mutational landscape may be another strategy to uncover genomic changes that drive recurrence and metastasis in thin melanoma.