Focal dermal hypoplasia (Goltz's syndrome). Treatment of cutaneous lesions with the 585-nm flashlamp-pumped pulsed dye laser

Abstract

REPORT OF A CASE A 26-year-old white woman presented with widespread erythematous atrophic patches over the trunk, neck, and extremities, several of which were raised and roughened and arranged in a linear pattern ( Figure 1 ). Telangiectases were scattered over the body, and some of the erythematous patches at the neck and shoulders also appeared hyperpigmented. The patient was noted to have dystrophic and brittle fingernails. Symptoms included itching and burning of the skin lesions, especially those at the lower extremities. The clinical appearance and symptomatology of the skin lesions had noticeably worsened over the 5 years before presentation. Detailed history revealed that the cutaneous lesions had been present since birth and had unsuccessfully been treated through the years with a variety of topical emollients. A skin biopsy specimen of a typical lesion revealed dilated vessels without endothelial cell proliferation within a thinned dermis. Syndactyly of the first two toes of