Juvenile xanthogranuloma: a case report and review of the literature

BACKGROUND: Juvenile xanthogranuloma is a rare disorder which may be present at birth, or appears in infancy. It can also occur in adults of all ages; appears with lesions that may be solitary or multiple nodules several millimeters in diameter. The predilection sites are head and neck, but it may occur on the extremities and trunk also. There can also be involved internal organs such as lung, kidney, gastrointestinal tract, etc. The most frequent extracutaneous location is the eye. CASE PRESENTATION: We report a case of juvenile xanthogranuloma in a male child with onset in the fourth month of life. He presented with a nodule 8 millimeters in diameter, tan-orange in color, ulcerated in the centre, located on the left corner of the left eye. A biopsy without total excision was performed. After the biopsy, the nodule enlarged to 1.5 cm in diameter and became haemorrhagic. The histologic evaluation and immunohistochemistry analysis resulted in the diagnosis of juvenile xanthogranuloma. For aesthetic reasons the nodule was removed by surgical resection. CONCLUSION: Juvenile xanthogranuloma is on a spectrum of histiocytic disorders, which is necessary to differentiate from maligniances in childhood by biopsy.