Usefulness of Dermoscopy in Eruptive Syringomas in an Elderly Woman

Eruptive syringomas (ES) are a rare variant of syringomas, benign adnexal tumors of eccrine sweat glands' ducts. They mostly affect young-to middle-aged women, but rarely they may also occur in the elderly, requiring generally no specific treatment.

We present the case of a 76-year-old woman with sudden onset of ES. Clinical examination evidenced brown-to-orange papules and plaques on the anterior neck, corresponding dermatoscopically to orange-brownish structureless areas, with barely hinted peripheral incomplete network, superimposed on areas of light pink. Histology showed dermal proliferation of epithelial cells forming cords and ductules, confirming the clinical-dermoscopic suspect of ES. The lesions remained stable at 12-month follow-up without treatment.

This case highlights the role of dermoscopy to help differentiate ES from other clinically similar but more serious entities, such as histiocytosis, mastocytosis, and lichen planus, and to schedule the required confirmatory biopsy in due time without haste.