Skin nontumor

Dermal collagen and elastic tissue alterations and metabolic disorders

Anetoderma



Last author update: 1 July 2011
Last staff update: 11 November 2020

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PubMed Search: Anetoderma

Cecilia Rosales, M.D.
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Cite this page: Rosales C. Anetoderma. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/skinnontumoranetoderma.html. Accessed April 23rd, 2024.
Definition / general
  • Benign disorder of focal loss of dermal elastic tissue, causing focal flaccid or saclike skin
  • Either primary (idiopathic) arising in normal skin, or secondary arising at site of previous skin lesions
Terminology
  • Greek: Anetos means slack
Epidemiology
  • Acquired purely cutaneous disorder
  • Most common in young adults, onset most often in second decade
  • Affects upper trunk and proximal arms; may be widespread
  • Affect both sexes equally; rare familial variant
Clinical features
  • Erythematous macules and urticarial plaques, progressing to flaccid, easily reduced papules
  • Also fine, diffuse wrinkling
  • May be accompanied by herniation into subcutaneous fat
Case reports
Clinical images

Images hosted on other servers:

Lesion of lower leg

Lesions of shoulders and upper back

Microscopic (histologic) description
  • No abnormality on H&E
  • Elastic stains show no / marked reduction in elastic fibers of papillary and mid-reticular dermis
  • Early lesions: variable perivascular and periadnexal mixed inflammatory infiltrate
Microscopic (histologic) images

Images hosted on other servers:

Faintly eosinophilic separated collagen bundles in upper dermis

Minimal dermal perivascular chronic inflammatory cells infiltrate

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