Clinically and/or histologically pigmented poromas in Caucasian patients

Pigmented poromas are rarely reported and considered to be more common in non-white people and on non-acral sites. Objective of the present study was to report our cases of pigmented poromas with particular attention to the presence of clinical and/or microscopic evidence of pigmentation, their characteristics and the diagnostic pitfall with other pathologies. METHODS: All the histologically confirmed poromas observed from January 1994 to July 2012 were considered. Clinic-epidemiological data were collected. The presence of clinical pigmentation was recorded as well as the presence of melanin pigmentation or melanocytes in the histologic specimens. RESULTS: One hundred and one patients with poromas were collected. All the patients were Caucasians. All the lesions were solitary. Only three patients had a clinically visible pigmented poromas. In eight cases the presence of melanin and melanocytes did not produce a clinically visible pigmentation. All the poromas with pigmentation did not occur on palmo-plantar surfaces. CONCLUSION: Pigmented poromas may be observed even in Caucasian patients and their clinical aspect mimic basal cell carcinoma and/or melanoma. The presence of pigment visible at the histology may not be observed in the clinical expression. The absence of pigmentation on palmo-plantar location is confirmed in all the reported cases.