Acquired bilateral telangiectatic macules: a distinct clinical entity.

Abstract

IMPORTANCE: We evaluated 13 distinct patients with multiple telangiectatic

pigmented macules confined mostly to the upper arms to determine if the clinical

and histopathological features of these cases might represent a specific clinical

entity. OBSERVATIONS: We retrospectively investigated the clinical,

histopathologic, and immunohistochemical features of 13 patients with multiple

telangiectatic pigmented macules on the upper arms who presented between January

2003 and December 2012. Epidermal pigmentation, melanogenic activity, melanocyte

number, vascularity, epidermal thickness, and perivascular mast cell number of

the specimens were evaluated. Clinically, the condition favored middle-aged men.

On histopathologic examination, the lesional skin showed capillary proliferation

and telangiectasia in the upper dermis. Histochemical and immunohistochemical

analysis revealed basal hyperpigmentation and increased melanogenic activity in

the lesional skin (P < .05). No significant difference in epidermal thickness or

mast cell number was observed between the normal perilesional skin and the

lesional skin. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: The clinical and histopathologic

features of these lesions were relatively consistent in all patients. In

addition, the features are quite distinct from other diseases. Based on clinical

and histologic features, we suggest the name acquired bilateral telangiectatic

macules for this new entity.