CLINICAL CASES   

Giornale Italiano di Dermatologia e Venereologia 2003 August;138(4):317-21

Copyright © 2003 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: Italian

Vulvar metastatic adenocarcinoma. A case of late diagnosis

Altomare G. F., Frigerio E., Capella G. L.

Istituto di Dermatologia, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano

The case of a woman aged 80 who had suffered from an “eczematous”, fixed and progressively extending plaque of the external genitalia is reported. After 1 year of inappropriate treatments (topical antimycotic agents and corticosteroids), the condition was properly, but lately, diagnosed as Paget’s disease of the vulva. The staging was T3/N2/M1 (FIGO IVB), that is, too late for a timely definitive surgery. Histogenesis, biological basis, and treatment problems of extramammary Paget’s disease are briefly discussed, along with the puzzling fact that this diagnosis is still unwarrantedly missed. The necessity to recur to anecdotal, empirical treatments for rare severe conditions is also underlined.