Giant dermatofibroma. A little-known clinical variant of dermatofibroma.

Abstract

Dermatofibroma is a common cutaneous lesion that usually appears as a slow-growing firm dermal nodule. Our purpose was to report the clinical and histopathologic characteristics of eight giant dermatofibromas and review the few cases of this variant of dermatofibroma reported in the literature. All clinical records of two Departments of Dermatology of University Hospitals from the past 5 years with a diagnosis of dermatofibroma were reviewed. Lesions that measured 5 cm or larger were considered for this study. Biopsy specimens were available from all lesions. Giant dermatofibromas are most frequently on the legs, especially below the knee. Often they have a pedunculated appearance. Because of their large size, the correct diagnosis is not suspected clinically; a diagnosis of malignancy is often made. Our findings indicate that giant dermatofibroma is a distinct but uncommon clinical variant of dermatofibroma that invariably exhibits a benign biologic behavior.