Page 56 - Read Online

Walter et al. Plast Aesthet Res 2017;4:49-53 Plastic and
DOI: 10.20517/2347-9264.2017.08
Aesthetic Research

www.parjournal.net
Case Report Open Access

Unilateral rhinophyma: report of a case and

review

Scott Walter , Steven Krueger , Jonathan Ho , Kavitha K. Reddy
1
2
1
1
1 Department of Dermatology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA.
2 University of Massachusetts Medical School, 55 N Lake Ave, Worcester, MA 01655, USA.
Correspondence to: Dr. Kavitha K. Reddy, Department of Dermatology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA.
E-mail: kreddy@bu.edu
How to cite this article: Walter S, Krueger S, Ho J, Reddy KK. Unilateral rhinophyma: report of a case and review. Plast Aesthet Res 2017;4:49-53.
ABSTRACT
Article history: Rhinophyma is a less-common subtype of rosacea that presents as thickened skin with
Received: 08-02-2017 enlarged sebaceous glands that may progress to large bulbous growths with dilated pores
Accepted: 14-03-2017 on the nose. Rhinophyma can lead to morbidity aesthetically and sometimes functionally.
Published: 22-03-2017 The prevalence of rosacea ranges from 1% to 20%. The exact pathogenesis is not known, but
potential factors include altered circulation, changes in microorganisms and/or alterations in
Key words: immunity. Here the authors present a unique case where a patient presented with unilateral
Rosacea, rhinophyma: a presentation warranting work up to rule out other more worrisome entities.
rhinophyma,
unilateral,
phymatous rosacea

INTRODUCTION this subtype occurs on the nose, phymatous rosacea
can also occur more rarely on the chin (gnathophyma),
Rhinophyma is the most prevalent presentation of the ears (otophyma), forehead (mentophyma), or eyelids
phymatous subtype of rosacea. Rosacea subtypes (blepharophyma). Rhinophyma can occur in isolation
include erythematotelangiectatic type (type 1), and its severity does not always correlate with duration
papulopustular rosacea (type 2), phymatous rosacea of disease. It is no longer thought to be an end stage
[4]
(type 3) and ocular rosacea (type 4). Phymatous of rosacea. [2]
[1]
rosacea is characterized early by prominent follicular
pores or patulous follicles with mild swelling while Here we present a case of a patient with unilateral
advanced disease reveals pronounced hyperemic skin rhinophyma of the right nasal ala. This is an unusual
thickening, irregular surface nodularities representing presentation for which we believe this is the first report,
sebaceous gland hypertrophy and eventual distortion as we cannot find any other reports in the literature.
of the nasal surface architecture. It typically occurs
[2]
on the nose as a bulbous irregular growth with dilated CASE REPORT
pores and background telangiectasia. Occasionally
very advanced disease may lead to nasal obstruction A 77-year-old male with a medical history of
and sleep apnea. While rhinophyma refers to when hypertension and chronic kidney disease presented
[3]
Quick Response Code:
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-
NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work
non-commercially, as long as the author is credited and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms.

For reprints contact: service@oaepublish.com

© 2017 OAE Publishing Inc. www.oaepublish.com 49