Skin nontumor
Dermal collagen and elastic tissue alterations, and cutaneous deposits
Anetoderma
Author: Cecilia Rosales, M.D.
Last author update: 1 July 2011
Last staff update: 11 November 2020
Copyright: 2002-2023, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.
PubMed Search: Anetoderma
Table of Contents
Definition / general | Terminology | Epidemiology | Clinical features | Case reports | Clinical images | Microscopic (histologic) description | Microscopic (histologic) imagesCite this page: Rosales C. Anetoderma. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/skinnontumoranetoderma.html. Accessed March 28th, 2023.
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
- 14 year old boy with lesions on acral sites of upper and lower extremities (BMC Dermatol 2004;4:9)
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
