Granulomatous variant of pigmented purpuric dermatosis

Abstract

Granulomatous pigmented purpuric dermatosis is a rare entity. Historically, it has been seen in Asians. In this article, we report the case of a white man with this unusual variant. A 65-year-old, white man presented with a 1-year history of asymptomatic purpuric to brown papules on both lower legs and more confluent on dorsum of feet. He had an underlying history of hypertension and hyperlipidemia. Skin biopsy revealed a granulomatous lympho-histocytary inflammatory infiltrate in papillary dermis and superficial reticular dermis with extravasation of red blood cells and siderophages. Periodic acid schiff (PAS), Giemsa and Ziehl-Neelsen stains were negative. A diagnosis of granulomatous pigmented purpuric dermatosis was made. From the 10 cases reported of this granulomatous variant, 6 were associated with hyperlipidemia. We report an additional case with this association.