DIFFUSE DERMAL ANGIOMATOSIS - A VARIANT OF REACTIVE CUTANEOUS ANGIOENDOTHELIOMATOSIS

Reactive angioendotheliomatosis (RA) is a rare, benign disease. Affect ed patients present with self-limited, erythematous to violaceous plaq ues. The clinical lesions are due to intravascular hyperplasia of cyto logically banal endothelial cells in the dermis. We report 2 patients who presented with ulcerated, violaceous plaques on the lower extremit ies. Both had severe peripheral vascular atherosclerotic disease requi ring bypass grafts. Unlike previously described cases of RA, our patie nt's lesions were due to a diffuse proliferation of endothelial cells in the reticular dermis with only minimal, focal intravascular prolife ration of these cells. Positive immunostaining with antibodies to Fact or VIII-related and CD34 antigens adds evidence that the proliferated cells in the dermis were endothelial cells. (C) Munksgaard 1994.