[Systemic mastocytosis: a case with diffuse bone involvement]

The authors report the case of a 54-year-old woman with systemic mastocytosis with cutaneous, gastroenteric and skeletal involvement. The patient, who had presented wine-coloured skin lesions for years diagnosed as urticaria pigmentosa on the basis of the skin biopsy, was admitted to the Institute of Internal Medicine owing to the radiological findings of severe osteopenia. Instrumental and laboratory tests led to the correct diagnosis of type 1 systemic mastocytosis. The peculiarity of the case in question prompts the authors to recall the classification of mastocytosis, namely those pathological syndromes characterised by tissular infiltration by mast-cells, and to outline elements regarding its differential diagnosis in relation to disorders such as various forms of carcinoids and osteopenia, and in particular osteoporosis and osteolysis secondary to metastatic processes.