Chapter 054. Skin Manifestations
of Internal Disease
(Part 10)

In tuberous sclerosis, the earliest cutaneous sign is an ash leaf spot. These
lesions are often present at birth and are usually multiple; however, detection may
require Wood's lamp examination, especially in fair-skinned individuals. The
pigment within them is reduced but not absent. The average size is 1–3 cm, and
the common shapes are polygonal and lance-ovate. Examination of the patient for
additional cutaneous signs such as multiple angiofibromas of the face (adenoma
sebaceum), ungual and gingival fibromas, fibrous plaques of the forehead, and
connective tissue nevi (shagreen patches) is recommended. It is important to
remember that an ash leaf spot on the scalp will result in poliosis, which is a
circumscribed patch of gray-white hair. Internal manifestations include seizures,
mental retardation, central nervous system (CNS) and retinal hamartomas, renal
angiomyolipomas, and cardiac rhabdomyomas. The latter can be detected in up to
60% of children (<18 years) with tuberous sclerosis by echocardiography.
Nevus depigmentosus is a stable, well-circumscribed hypomelanosis that is
present at birth. There is usually a single oval or rectangular lesion, but
occasionally the nevus has a segmental or whorled pattern (also referred to as
linear nevoid hypopigmentation). It is important to distinguish this more common
entity from ash leaf spots of tuberous sclerosis, especially when there are multiple
lesions. In hypomelanosis of Ito, swirls and streaks of hypopigmentation run
parallel to one another in a pattern that resembles a marble cake. Lesions may
progress or regress with time, and in up to a third of patients, associated
abnormalities are found involving the musculoskeletal system (asymmetry), the
CNS (seizures and mental retardation), and the eyes (strabismus and
hypertelorism). Chromosomal mosaicism has been detected in these patients,
lending support to the hypothesis that the pattern is the result of the migration of
two clones of primordial melanocytes, each with a different pigment potential.
Localized areas of decreased pigmentation are commonly seen as a result of

2. Proliferation of melanocytes
a. Lentigo
b. Nevus
c. Melanoma
3. Increased pigment production
a. Ephelides (freckles)
b. Café au lait macule
c. Postinflammatory hyperpigmentation
B. Localized and diffuse
1. Drugs
II. Systemic diseases
A. Localized
1. Epidermal alteration
a. Seborrheic keratoses (sign of Leser-Trélat)
b. Acanthosis nigricans (endocrine disorders, paraneoplastic)
2. Proliferation of melanocytes
a. Lentigines (Peutz-
Jeghers and LEOPARD syndromes; xeroderma
pigmentosum)
b. Nevi [Carney complex (LAMB and NAME syndromes)]
a 3. Increased pigment production
a. Café au lait macules (neurofibromatosis, McCune-
Albright
syndrome
b
)


5. Drugs and metals