Answer of Dermatopathology Case 33

Glomeruloid Hemangioma

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Abstract:

POEMS syndrome with an isolated lytic lesion and glomeruloid hemangiomas: report of one case. Rev Med Chil. 2009 May;137(5):680-4. Epub 2009 Jul 17.
POEMS syndrome (polyneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrine abnormality, M-protein, plasma cell dyscrasia, and skin lesions) is a rare atypical plasma cell dyscrasia with characteristic para neoplastic manifestations. Glomeruloid hemangioma is a typical skin change pathogenetically related with elevated levels of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF). We report a 69 year-old woman that presented cachexia associated with diabetes, hypothyroidism and severe sensitive motor polyneuropathy. Her skin changes included hyper pigmentation, acrocyanosis and glomeruloid hemangioma. The subsequent study revealed a monoclonal gammopathy
lambda type; a unique lytic vertebral lesion and a clonal plasma cell proliferation. Treatment with prednisone 0.5 mg/kg and melphalan 0,25 mg/kg in cycles of 4 days every 4 weeks was started, but the patient was lost from follow up.

Glomeruloid haemangioma is not always associated with POEMS syndrome.Clin Exp Dermatol. 2009 Oct;34(7):800-3. Epub 2008 Dec 9.
Glomeruloid haemangioma is considered a specific marker of POEMS (polyneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, M-protein and skin changes) syndrome and it is usually but not always associated with multicentric Castleman's disease. We report a 78-year-old man who presented with a single, red-violet soft nodule with superficial telangiectases on the scalp. Histopathologically, the lesion consisted of lobules of coiled aggregated capillaries that involved the lumina of dilated vascular structures, mimicking renal glomeruli.
A collagenous stroma separated the capillary lobules, and eosinophilic, periodic-acid-Schiff positive globules of varying sizes and shapes were seen within the cytoplasm of endothelial cells. Immunohistochemical studies with antibodies against IgA and IgG, and against the kappa and lambda light chains of immunoglobulins showed immunoreactivity within the eosinophilic globules. Results of complete blood count, liver, renal and thyroid function tests, fasting blood sugar measurement, serum levels of oestradiol, testosterone, prolactin and cortisol, serum protein electrophoresis, immunoelectrophoresis and immunofixation yielded normal or negative results. No Bence-Jones proteinuria was found in a sample from a 24-h urine collection. To our knowledge, only two cases of glomeruloid haemangioma have been previously reported in patients without POEMS syndrome. We describe the third case of glomeruloid haemangioma in a patient without features of POEMS syndrome.

Eosinophilic globules in 3 cases of glomeruloid hemangioma of the head and neck: a characteristic offering more evidence for thanatosomes with or without POEMS. Am J Dermatopathol. 2008 Dec;30(6):539-44.
Glomeruloid hemangiomas (GHs) are glomeruli-like capillary tufts lined by endothelial cells that contain periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) positive eosinophilic globules (EGs). These hemangiomas are characteristic cutaneous manifestation of POEMS syndrome (Polyneuropathy, Organomegaly, Endocrinopathy, M-protein, and Skin changes). Hemangiomas histologically identical to GHs but not associated with POEMS have recently been designated as papillary hemangiomas. In this report, we present solitary head and neck GHs in 3 patients, 2 without POEMS, with attention to the characteristic EGs. We performed immunostains for hemoglobin A, kappa and lambda light chains, factor VIII-related antigen, CD31 and CD34, PAS stain after diastase digestion (PASD), and electron microscopic examinations on routinely fixed tissues containing EGs. Eosinophilic globules stained uniformly positive for PASD but only peripherally positive for hemoglobin and light chains on surfaces, with interiors negative for antigens. Factor VIII-related antigen and CD31 and CD34 confirmed cells containing EGs to be endothelial. Electron microscopic examination suggested that EGs are enlarged secondary lysosomes (thanatosomes). These features fail to support red blood cells or immunoglobulins as EG constituents. Glomeruloid hemangiomas may be vascular proliferations stimulated by endothelial cells' protein phagocytosis but not by phagocytosis of either hemoglobin -containing red blood cells or
immunoglobulins. The vascular lesions in POEMS syndrome appear identical to papillary hemangioma in cases without the other syndromic manifestations.