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Background: Penile biopsy can be useful to establish an accurate diagnosis when managing male genital dermatoses. We investigated the value of genital biopsy by comparing suspected clinical diagnosis with final histologic diagnosis., Patients and Method: We retrospectively examined the clinical file of men with genital dermatoses undergoing genital biopsy. We collected details of age, biopsy site, suspected diagnosis after clinical examination and histologic diagnosis., Results: One hundred and thirty-eight male patients were enrolled in the study. Their mean age was 52 years. Most biopsies (41%) were performed on the glans. Microscopic examination failed to rule out a diagnosis in 14.5% of the cases. It confirmed the clinically suspected diagnosis in 29.7% of cases and ruled out a particular diagnosis from among several clinical hypotheses in 26.8% of cases. The histological diagnosis had not been suspected in 18.1% of cases., Discussion: Penile biopsy has an important role in the diagnosis of penile dermatoses. In our study, in 44.9% of cases, a clinically unsuspected diagnosis was identified or a differential diagnosis was resolved., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Background: Rosai-Dorfman disease, or sinus histiocytosis with massive lymphadenopathy, is a rare benign histiocytic proliferative lymph node disorder. Whereas the association of nodal and extranodal involvement is common, purely extranodal diseases are rare., Case-Report: We report the case of a thirty-year-old man with papulonodular skin lesions of the face and the legs initially followed by onset of hyposensitivity of the lower extremities. Histologic examination of a facial lesion showed a dermal polymorphous infiltrate, chiefly composed of large histiocytes, some of which contained intracytoplasmic lymphocytes and neutrophils, a process referred to as emperipolesis. Immunohistochemistry revealed positive staining of the histiocytes with anti-S100 protein and anti-CD68 antibodies and negative staining with anti-CD1a antibody. Magnetic resonance showed spinal cord compression linked to epidural involvement. We concluded on cutaneous and epidural Rosai-Dorfman disease. Neurological symptoms rapidly and partially resolved after intravenous corticosteroid therapy, which was followed by oral corticosteroid therapy and etoposide chemotherapy leading to the regression of the cutaneous lesions., Discussion: This case report of cutaneous and epidural Rosai-Dorfman disease is interesting because of the lack of lymph node involvement associated with the cutaneous lesions and because of the presence of an epidural site, rarely described in this disease.