Between January 1975 and December 1983, 24 of 183 patients (13%) with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) seen at the Mayo Clinic had mesenteric fibromatosis (MF). MF was found most often in FAP patients with associated extra-colonic "Gardner" signs (19 patients) and those who had had previous abdominal surgery (20 patients). In 4 patients, MF appeared spontaneously. The male-to-female ratio was 0.4, with a median age of 31 years in women and 37 years in men. Ten of 24 patients (42%) had been asymptomatic prior to diagnosis at time of surgery for FAP. Complications of the disease included intestinal or urinary tract obstruction. Minimal surgical manipulation seemed to be associated with fewer postoperative complications and a lesser risk of regrowth of the tumor. Nonsurgical treatment, including tamoxifen and sulindac in combination, may be beneficial. Surgery should be reserved for relief of obstruction, and bypass is preferred to resection.
Twelve cases of pachyonychia congenita were reviewed. The mode of inheritance was autosomal dominant. The clinical features of these patients included thickened nails, hyperkeratosis of the palms and soles, thinning of hair or alopecia, painful bullae or ulcerations of the palms and soles, leukokeratosis oris, verrucous lesions of the extremities, hyperhidrosis, premature eruption of teeth, paronychial infections, epidermal cysts with milia, and corneal dyskeratosis at times associated with cataracts. Biopsy from the plantar lesions usually revealed marked hyperkeratosis, acanthosis, moderate hypergranulosis, and minimal dermal inflammatory infiltration. Treatment with keratolytic agents and lubricants is indicated to areas of palmar and plantar hyperkeratosis but usually produces only transient benefit. Squamous cell carcinoma developed in one of the patients over the site of chronic plantar ulcerations. Areas of chronic bullous formation or ulceration should be observed for possible skin malignancy.
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