Giant Rhinophyma

A 42-year-old woman presented with a clinically obvious giant rhinophyma. The protocol of the unit handling the case mandated that all lesions amenable to biopsy should have a core biopsy before any definitive surgery, but the unnecessary biopsy was not representative and suggested an incorrect diagnosis of perifollicular fibroma. The lesion was excised. The sections showed dilated hair follicle pores on the skin surface, squamous lined hair follicles plugged with keratin, prominent sebaceous glands, perifollicular inflammation without granulomas, intradermal budding of hair follicle basal cells, and extensive hypocellular, mildly edematous fibrous tissue with slightly dilated, thin-walled vessels and a few chronic inflammatory cells. These fully representative sections confirmed the diagnosis of giant rhinophyma, suggesting that preoperative core biopsies of this condition are unnecessary and may be misleading.