Acquired nevoid telangiectasia

Background: Acquired nevoid telangiectasia (ANT) is a segmental dilatation of papillary plexus vessels. Objective: In the present study, the frequency of ANT and its associations with Collagen vascular and spinal disease have been investigated. Methods: 188 unselected patients, seen at an interdisci plinary dermatorheumatologic outpatient clinic, were clinically examined fo r the presence of ANT and possible associations to preexisting disease. Res ults:ANT was seen in 17% of patients, all females. The mean age of ANT pati ents was 57.5 +/- 8.2 years. Most common diseases were lupus erythematosus and scleroderma. Twenty-four of them suffered from generalized fibromyalgia , 8 had spondylitis deformans, 1 suffered from thoracal syringomyelia and 1 had a spine trauma. Two types of ANT have been seen: the cervico-thoracal transition type and the lumbosacral transition type. Conclusions: ANT is no t uncommon among patients attending a dermatorheumatologic outpatient clini c. ANT indicates spinal or neuromuscular complaints, but is not related to Collagen vascular disease itself. Copyright (C) 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel.