[Osteoma cutis presenting as an erythematous and grainy, retroauricular plaque]

Abstract

Background: Authentic bone tissue can be observed in the skin, in both the epidermis and dermis, where it produces cutaneous osteomas. These lesions are classed as either primary or secondary ossifications. Secondary ossifications are the consequence of inflammatory lesions such as acne or injuries while primary ossifications are neither preceded by preexisting lesions nor associated with other lesions.

Patients and methods: A 22-year-old man with no prior history consulted for a grainy, erythematous, telangiectatic retroauricular plaque on the right side. Palpation revealed hard grainy lesions giving a tactile sensation of small stones. Histological analysis showed an ossification in the dermis resulting from mature bone in contact with dilated vessels. A diagnosis of venous malformation with osseous metaplasia was initially proposed, but the patient insisted that no vascular anomaly had preceded the grainy lesions. Further histological analysis demonstrated that the vascular anomalies were restricted to the ossified regions and the final diagnosis was of primary cutaneous osteoma.

Discussion: In our patient, the absence of any endocrine anomalies and of any vascular malformation supported the diagnosis of primary cutaneous osteoma. Certain vascular anomalies such as haemangiomas or venous malformation can lead to bone formation. The coexistence in the dermis of osteomas and dilated vessels initially led us to suspect osteomas secondary to venous malformation. However, the absence of any vascular anomalies preceding the cutaneous osteoma contradicted this diagnosis. In venous malformations, phleboliths are usually seen as a result of calcium deposits on thrombus rather than authentic osteomas. Our patient had no standard primary solitary osteoma of either the nodular or the plaque type, and this case thus constitutes a new original form of primary cutaneous osteoma.