Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to James W Patterson.
Syringomas are benign tumors of the eccrine ducts that appear as small skin-colored or yellow papules. They usually occur in the periorbital area, but have also been found on the scalp, forehead, cheeks, axillae, abdomen, extremities, genitalia, and buttocks. We describe a patient with an unusual presentation of syringomas on the moustache area.
BACKGROUND: Patients have traditionally been considered candidates for sentinel node biopsy (SNBx) only at the time of wide local excision (WLE). We hypothesized that patients with prior WLE may also be staged accurately with SNBx. METHODS: Seventy-six patients, including 18 patients from the University of Virginia and 58 from a multicenter study of SNBx led by investigators at the University of Vermont, who had previous WLE for clinically localized melanoma underwent lymphoscintigraphy with SNBx. Median follow-up time was 38 months. RESULTS: Intraoperative identification of at least 1 sentinel node was accomplished in 75 patients (98.6%). The mean number of sentinel nodes removed per patient was 2.0. Eleven patients (15%) had positive sentinel nodes. Among the 64 patients with negative SNBx, 3 (4%) developed nodal recurrences in a sentinel node-negative basin simultaneous with systemic metastasis, and 1 (1%) developed an isolated first recurrence in a lymph node. CONCLUSIONS: This multicenter study more than doubles the published experience with SNBx after WLE and provides much-needed outcome data on recurrence after SNBx in these patients. These outcomes compare favorably with the reported literature for patients with SNBx at the time of WLE, suggesting that accurate staging of the regional lymph node bed is possible in patients after WLE.
Allergic granulomatous vasculitis, or Churg-Strauss syndrome, is a small-vessel, multisystem vasculitis that can affect the skin, lungs, heart, and nervous system. Recent reports have implicated leukotriene receptor antagonists and inhaled corticosteroids in the development of this rare syndrome. We present a patient with no history of allergic asthma who acutely developed skin-limited Churg-Strauss-like granulomatous vasculitis after initiating therapy with inhaled fluticasone and salmeterol (Advair Diskus).
BACKGROUND: The delineation of radial and vertical growth phases in primary cutaneous malignant melanomas has contributed to our understanding of melanoma progression and has enhanced the ability of pathologists to provide clinicians with meaningful prognostic information. Vertical growth phase (VGP) lesions have the potential to metastasize, but radial growth phase (RGP) melanomas are believed to lack competence for metastasis. METHODS: We have identified three cases in which metastasis occurred in association with lesions initially interpreted as RGP melanomas. To determine whether these cases truly represented exceptional metastasizing RGP melanomas or VGP lesions incorrectly identified as RGP lesions, careful microscopic re-review of these cases was performed. RESULTS: In one case, additional microscopic sectioning revealed a focus of vertical growth that was not evident on the original sections. In the other two cases, only radial growth was found. In one of these cases there was melanoma in situ with regressive changes, but no evidence for invasive melanoma. In the other, a RGP lesion was associated with an adjacent compound nevus with periadnexal involvement. CONCLUSIONS: These cases suggest that, while true RGP melanomas have an excellent prognosis, caution must be exercised in defining a lesion as having no metastatic potential when multiple sections of the primary lesion are unavailable, when the lesion is accompanied by regressive changes, or when there is an associated melanocytic nevus. It is possible that strictly defined RGP melanomas may metastasize in very rare cases. Our observations also suggest that metastatic potential is a function of numerous factors, and may not be evaluable on morphological grounds alone.
We describe a patient with patch-type granuloma annulare whose lesions resolved after biopsy on 2 occasions. The lesions not subjected to biopsy persisted. There is a paucity of literature on the relation between biopsy and resolution of granuloma annulare, with one frequently cited article implying that biopsy is not related to resolution. We briefly consider possible mechanisms through which involution of lesions of granuloma annulare could result after biopsy or other form of trauma.
Myofibroma is the term for a group of solitary or generalized soft tissue tumors that may be located in the skin or within skeletal muscle, bone, and viscera. These tumors occur most commonly in children. However, examples of myofibroma have been reported in adults, in whom they usually present as solitary lesions of the head and neck, trunk, and extremities. "Cutaneous nodules" have been reported in both localized and systemic scleroderma, but to our knowledge, there are no specific reports of myofibromas developing in this patient population. We report a case of acral myofibromas in a patient with generalized cutaneous morphea. This occurrence is of interest in view of the possible role of myofibroblasts in the pathogenesis of scleroderma.
We describe a patient in whom radiation-induced morphea developed after undergoing fluoroscopically guided repair of an abdominal aortic aneurysm.
BACKGROUND: Granular parakeratosis is a hyperkeratotic eruption of unknown etiology that occurs in the axilla and other intertriginous areas. The histologic features are unique for the retention of keratohyalin granules in the stratum corneum. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the article is to review the clinical manifestations and treatment of granular parakeratosis. METHODS: A case report and literature review are presented. RESULTS: Twenty-six cases of granular parakeratosis now have been reported and reviewed. CONCLUSION: Granular parakeratosis occurs predominantly in middle age women and most frequently in the axilla. A number of treatments have been applied to the 26 cases reported to date, without consistent responses. No evidence-based therapy can be suggested at present.
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