ABSTRACT
Sarcoidosis is an inflammatory multisystemic disease of unknown etiology with multiple presentations of cutaneous lesions. It characteristically infiltrates scars due to several kind of trauma such as surgery, tattoo and even herpes zoster. We present a case of a 65-year-old woman with progressive distal paresthesia and motor weakness. She was referred to our dermatology clinic for a new violaceous nodular plaque within an old melanoma scar on the posterior neck. On positron emission tomography-computed tomography, there were multiple enlarged thoracic lymphadenopathy and a fluorodeoxyglucose-avid cutaneous lesion on the posterior neck, right in the melanoma scar. Cutaneous and nerve biopsies showed non-necrotising granulomas, supporting the diagnosis of systemic sarcoidosis and excluding melanoma recurrence with metastasis. It is the first case of cutaneous sarcoidosis arising within a melanoma scar. Interestingly, patients with melanoma have a higher risk of sarcoidosis.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Calciphylaxis is a rare syndrome of vascular calcification with subsequent cutaneous and tissue necrosis. It usually manifests as a complication of end-stage renal failure, affecting 1 to 4% of long-term dialysis patients. Very exceptionally, it can occur without chronic renal failure. OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to discuss an exceptional case of extensive calciphylaxis in the absence of chronic renal failure and its successful management. METHODS: We present a case of a 31-year-old woman with extensive proximal, ulcerated calciphylaxis without associated chronic renal failure. Our patient had quite a few risk factors associated with the pathogenesis of calciphylaxis, such as obesity, malnutrition, and a transient episode of acute renal failure. RESULTS: She was successfully treated with sodium thiosulfate, extensive wound débridement (more than 30% total body surface), and subsequent skin grafts. The patient has miraculously survived this often fatal condition. CONCLUSION: Calciphylaxis can occur even in the absence of chronic renal failure. This often fatal condition can be managed successfully with a combination of aggressive wound control and the fairly newly described sodium thiosulfate therapy.
