Favre-Rokusho disease (nodular elastosis of the skin with cysts and camedones): causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment

Favre-Rokusho disease

Synonym: nodular elastosis of the skin with cysts and comedones

The disease was first described by the French dermatologist M. Favra in 1937.

The causes and pathogenesis of the disease are unknown. According to many scientists, dermatosis is hereditary. It occurs under the influence of prolonged solar insolation and other factors.

The disease is more common among people who work in the sun.

Symptoms of Favre-Rokusho disease (nodular elastosis of the skin with cysts and comedones). The dermatosis is most often observed in men over 50 years of age. The pathological process is located on the face (mainly around the eyes and temples), behind the neck and auricle. The skin surface thickens, hardens, becomes rough, covered with wrinkles, and is yellowish-red in color. A whitish-yellow, translucent rash appears on the skin surface the size of a cherry or sweet cherry, 1-5 mm in diameter, with several nodular and nodular elements appearing in the central part. In the central part of many nodules and cysts, there are dark brown comedones. If the comedones are palpated from the inside, the white mass becomes creamy. Dystrophic changes are mainly caused on the skin of the face and neck. The above-described pathological focus can sometimes be observed in areas that have not been exposed to sunlight.

A 42-year-old woman and her 22-year-old son were examined at the Research Institute of Dermatology and Venereology. Their pathological process was widespread, located on the neck and behind the earlobe, on the body and limbs. Thus, clinical observation confirms that this is a hereditary disease.

Histopathology. Cysts of various sizes can be found in the dermis. The walls of the cysts consist of several layers of dermal cells. Basophilic degeneration of the connective tissue on the upper part of the dermis, atrophy of the sebaceous glands, a decrease in sweat glands and their quantitative decrease are observed. The walls of the blood vessels thicken. An infiltrate consisting of histiocytes and lymphocytes is determined around them.

Differential diagnosis. The disease should be distinguished from Dubreuil's diffuse elastoma, colloid milium, acne keloid, syringoma, trichoepithelioma.

Treatment of Favre-Rokusho disease (nodular elastosis of the skin with cysts and comedones) is symptomatic. Dermabrasion is performed. In severe cases of the disease, steroids and retinoids are recommended as a general treatment.