Biography:

Tamihiro Kawakami has completed his MD from Chiba University School of Medicine, Chiba, Japan in 1989. He has then started his research on growth factors in systemic scleroderma at the Division of Rheumatology and Immunology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, USA, which led to his PhD in 1998. He was a Resident at the Department of Dermatology, Chiba University School of Medicine, Chiba, Japan in 1989. He was a Staff Dermatologist at the Second Department of Dermatology, Toho University, Tokyo, Japan in 1992 and was a Visiting Research Fellow at the Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, USA in 1995 and at the Division of Rheumatology and Immunology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, USA in 1996. Since 2015, he has been an Associate Professor at the Department of Medical Genetics, St. Marianna University.

Abstract:

Unilateral nevoid telangiectasia is characterized by the unilateral and dermatomal distribution of telangiectasia. This rare disorder is believed to be related to increased estrogen receptors in the involved skin. A 12-year-old Japanese girl had a progressive unilateral nevoid telangiectasia that began six years earlier on her left leg and foot. Examination revealed numerous wiry and spidery telangiectases of her left lower extremities. She had normal blood estrogen levels. A skin biopsy revealed only dilated blood vessels in the superficial dermis. Tissue specimens from the macules revealed no expression of estrogen receptors. Unilateral nevoid telangiectasia is a unique vascular dermatosis of ambiguous etiology. Our patient did not have any disease induced by an estrogenized pathological state during the four year follow-up period after her initial examination. We propose that unilateral nevoid telangiectasia may result from localized trigger factors based on a chromosomal mosaicism, independent of an abnormal hormonal state.