Usefulness of Dermoscopy in the Differential Diagnosis of Ruptured and Unruptured Epidermal Cysts.

BACKGROUND: An epidermal cyst is a common keratin-filled epithelial-lined cyst. The treatment of choice for epidermal cysts is surgical excision. If the cyst becomes ruptured, incision and drainage with oral antibiotic therapy or intralesional steroid injection are required. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the dermoscopic features that can differentiate between ruptured and unruptured epidermal cysts. METHODS: The clinical and dermoscopic features of the pathologically confirmed epidermal cysts of two subgroups of 38 patients, 20 with unruptured cysts and 18 with ruptured cysts, were reviewed. RESULTS: With regard to the dermoscopic features, an ivory- white background color and punctum were commonly found in both groups (p>0.05). The unruptured-cyst group showed higher frequencies of pore sign (p<0.05), blue-white veil (p>0.05), no vascular structure, and arborizing telangiectasia (p<0.05), but the ruptured-cyst group usually had red lacunae (p>0.05) and peripheral linear branched vessels (with an erythematous rim) (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Dermoscopy is helpful in differentiating between ruptured and unruptured epidermal cysts.

Usefulness of Dermoscopy in the Differential Diagnosis of Ruptured and Unruptured Epidermal Cysts

BACKGROUND: An epidermal cyst is a common keratin-filled epithelial-lined cyst. The treatment of choice for epidermal cysts is surgical excision. If the cyst becomes ruptured, incision and drainage with oral antibiotic therapy or intralesional steroid injection are required. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the dermoscopic features that can differentiate between ruptured and unruptured epidermal cysts. METHODS: The clinical and dermoscopic features of the pathologically confirmed epidermal cysts of two subgroups of 38 patients, 20 with unruptured cysts and 18 with ruptured cysts, were reviewed. RESULTS: With regard to the dermoscopic features, an ivory- white background color and punctum were commonly found in both groups (p>0.05). The unruptured-cyst group showed higher frequencies of pore sign (p0.05), no vascular structure, and arborizing telangiectasia (p0.05) and peripheral linear branched vessels (with an erythematous rim) (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Dermoscopy is helpful in differentiating between ruptured and unruptured epidermal cysts.

Usefulness of Dermoscopy in the Differential Diagnosis of Ruptured and Unruptured Epidermal Cysts

BACKGROUND: An epidermal cyst is a common keratin-filled epithelial-lined cyst. The treatment of choice for epidermal cysts is surgical excision. If the cyst becomes ruptured, incision and drainage with oral antibiotic therapy or intralesional steroid injection are required. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the dermoscopic features that can differentiate between ruptured and unruptured epidermal cysts. METHODS: The clinical and dermoscopic features of the pathologically confirmed epidermal cysts of two subgroups of 38 patients, 20 with unruptured cysts and 18 with ruptured cysts, were reviewed. RESULTS: With regard to the dermoscopic features, an ivory- white background color and punctum were commonly found in both groups (p>0.05). The unruptured-cyst group showed higher frequencies of pore sign (p0.05), no vascular structure, and arborizing telangiectasia (p0.05) and peripheral linear branched vessels (with an erythematous rim) (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Dermoscopy is helpful in differentiating between ruptured and unruptured epidermal cysts.

Utility of Sonoelastography in Differentiating Ruptured From Unruptured Epidermal Cysts and Implications for Patient Care.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate the correlation of sonoelastographic features between ruptured and unruptured epidermal cysts. METHODS: We performed a prospective survey of 27 patients with clinically suspected epidermal cysts diagnosed by excisional biopsy with prebiopsy sonography and real-time sonoelastography. We statistically evaluated the correlation between elastographic and histopathologic features. To measure the relative hardness on elastography, the Rinside/Routside ratio was used to show the ratio of the elasticity inside and outside the cyst, where the random value R was defined as the median red pixel intensity/(median red pixel intensity + median green pixel intensity + median blue pixel intensity). RESULTS: Only 24 of the 27 patients were enrolled. Among the 24 diagnosed epidermal cysts, 13 were unruptured cysts, and 11 were ruptured cysts based on histopathologic examination. There was no correlation between sonographically and histopathologically measured cyst diameters. The Rinside/Routside ratio was significantly higher in unruptured cysts than ruptured cysts (mean ± SD, 1.16 ± 0.15 versus 1.04 ± 0.13; P = .047). All values below the cutoff point were considered to indicate ruptured cysts, and the cutoff value was set to 1.0919, which afforded sensitivity of 83.3% and specificity of 66.7%. CONCLUSIONS: Real-time sonoelastography is able to detect differences in tissue elasticity between ruptured and unruptured epidermal cysts. This study shows the utility of real-time sonoelastography, which has important implications for treatment planning.