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Pseudoxanthoma Elasticum. Presented by Capt Samuel L. Moschella, MC, USN.
The patient is a 62-year-old well-developed and nourished female in no acute distress. Her blood pressure is 180/90 with a regular pulse of 79. There are no murmurs. Her peripheral pulses are forceful and equal. There were no demonstrable Raynaud's phenomena. Allen's test of the hands was normal.She denies any family history of skin changes, vascular, or visual diseases. There is a past history of thyroidectomy at age 30, because the gland was enlarged.In 1960, she noticed skin changes in her neck. Subsequently, she noticed over the next four years changes in the following areas: the axilla and the flexures of arms and legs. In 1962, she began to have failing vision. She denies any symptoms of intermittent claudication, Raynaud's phenomena, or angina. She does have numbness of the left hand.
Dermatological Examination.—
"Chicken skin" of the neck