Alopecia mucinosa and lymphoma. Report of two cases and review of literature

Abstract

A total of 90 cases of alopecia mucinosa (follicular mucinosis) have been reported in the world literature since Pinkus described the entity in 1957. Alopecia mucinosa appears morphologically in any variety of 3 basic clinical types: grouped folliculopapules, plaque forms of folliculopapules, and as boggy nodular masses. Characteristic histochemical changes of follicular mucinosis have been demonstrated in alopecia mucinosa as well as in selected cases of mycosis fungoides and lymphoma. The majority of case reports of alopecia mucinosa have been in children and yound adults (58%), and the course of the dermatosis was usually uneventful. Beyond age 40, the disease appears to behave differently in that it follows a prolonged chronic course, and of 28 cases in this category 4 (15%) developed into either mycosis fungoides or lymphoblastoma.