Leiomyomas of the Skin

Abstract

The clinical and histologic findings of 54 cutaneous leiomyomas from 38 patients are described. The tumors are separated into two groups, multiple cutaneous leiomyomas of pilar muscle origin and solitary cutaneous leiomyomas of genital, mammillary, pilar, and other dermal smooth muscle origin. The angiomyomas are not included in this study. Patients with multiple leiomyomas outnumbered those with solitary lesions. Both the multiple and the solitary tumors were painful and followed a benign course. In the majority of patients with multiple lesions, more than one region of the body was involved. Lesions were most common on the extremities, and next in order was the trunk. The average age at onset was 25 years in patients with multiple tumors. Familial incidence was established in several patients. An apparently high recurrence rate for the multiple leiomyomas may reflect either the growth of new tumors or the recurrence of partially excised tumors. Several of the solitary nongenital tumors showed evidence of pilar muscle origin.