Several types of cutaneous lesions have previously been described at the sites of herpes zoster scars. We describe 16 patients with cutaneous lesions which had developed on herpes zoster scars. Biopsies were taken from these lesions, and a polymerase chain reaction assay was used to detect the viral genome in paraffin-embedded specimens. Histopathological findings enabled diagnosis of nonspecific granulomatous dermatitis in five patients, granulomatous vasculitis in two patients, lichen sclerosus in two patients, and pseudolymphoma, keloid, sarcoidal granuloma, granuloma annulare, granulomatous folliculitis, lichen planus and cutaneous Rosai-Dorfman disease, each in one patient. Varicella-zoster virus DNA was not identified in any of the patients. Granulomatous folliculitis, lichen sclerosus and cutaneous Rosai-Dorfman disease have not previously been described in herpes zoster scars, but they are three new cutaneous reaction patterns that may have developed within these scars. Our investigations indicate that the cutaneous reactions appearing in herpes zoster scars are not due to the persistence of varicella-zoster virus DNA within the lesions.

We describe a 78-year-old woman with polycythaemia rubra vera who had multiple tiny follicular hyperkeratotic spicules on the cheeks. She was receiving treatment with oral hydroxyurea, but no topical agents had been applied to her face. Histopathological study demonstrated numerous Demodex folliculorum mites within dilated follicular infundibula, and we consider that the mites were playing a part in the aetiology of the skin lesions.

Extraocular sebaceous carcinoma is an uncommon neoplasm usually localized on the head and neck. Sebaceous glands are abundant on the vulva, but vulvar sebaceous carcinoma is an uncommon neoplasm. To our knowledge, there are only five previously reported cases of sebaceous carcinoma on this location. We report an additional case of vulvar sebaceous carcinoma associated with Bowen's disease in the overlying epidermis. The patient also had bowenoid papulosis involving the skin of labia majora. We analyzed by immunohistochemistry, Southern blot hybridization, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques for the presence of DNA of human papilloma viruses (HPVs) in the specimen of sebaceous carcinoma and in lesions of bowenoid papulosis. Immunohistochemistry, Southern blot hybridization, and PCR studies in specimens of bowenoid papulosis lesions and sebaceous carcinoma did not detect DNA of HPVs. A significant increase in intranuclear p53 staining was demonstrated in several areas of neoplastic aggregations of sebaceous carcinoma.

We report a case of areolar sebaceous hyperplasia involving the right mammary areola in a 49-year-old male. Areolar sebaceous hyperplasia, an uncommon entity first described by Catalano and Ioannides in 1985, is characterized clinically by yellowish thickening of the areolae and histopathologically by large numbers of mature hyperplastic sebaceous lobules connected to the skin surface through short, hairless infundibular canals. Since its original description, only two additional reports have been published. To our knowledge, our patient is the first reported of areolar sebaceous hyperplasia in a male.

A pityriasis rubra pilaris-like eruption has been described in patients with dermatomyositis. These patients showed generalized follicular hyperkeratosis and diffuse thickening of the palms and soles. Histopathological findings consisted of keratotic plugging of the follicular infundibulum and features of erector pili myositis. We report on an 18-year-old woman with dermatomyositis. The diagnosis was established by characteristic enzymatic alterations, electromyographic pattern of myositis and the findings in a muscle biopsy, although the patient had no evidence of muscular weakness during a follow-up of 14 years. She developed an erythematosus and squamous eruption associated with diffuse palmoplantar keratoderma. Histopathological features consisted of a papillomatous epidermis with spicules of compact eosinophilic hyperkeratosis over the tips of papillae that were not related to hair follicles. Pityriasis rubra pilaris-like eruption seems to be a characteristic although uncommon cutaneous manifestation in dermatomyositis.

Partial unilateral lentiginosis is a rare disorder of cutaneous pigmentation characterized by the presence of multiple lesions of simple lentigo involving, wholly or partially, one half of the body. We report seven cases of this condition.

Multiple hidrocystomas of the face (Robinson type) is an uncommon variant of hidrocystoma consisting of multiple cysts of the face of middle-aged women with exacerbation in hot temperatures. Controversy about the eccrine or apocrine nature of these lesions has appeared in the literature almost since their original description in 1893. Immunohistochemistry is not helpful in distinguishing between eccrine and apocrine differentiation in these lesions and enzyme histochemical studies have not been conclusive. We report three patients with this rare variant of hidrocystoma. In our opinion, multiple hidrocystomas of the face are apocrine hidrocystomas in which characteristic 'decapitation' secretion has been effaced by the pressure of cyst contents against the lining epithelium; only after serial sections is it possible to identify some areas of the cyst lining showing apocrine secretion in the luminal border of columnar cells.

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