Dermatology: Practical and Conceptual


Image Letter | Dermatol Pract Concept. 2022;12(3):e2022096 1

Dermatology Practical & Conceptual

A Particular Bicentric Structure in Dermoscopic 
Demonstration of Degos Disease

Anqi Li1, Rouyu Fang1, Qiuning Sun1

1 Department of Dermatology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical 

College, Beijing, China

Citation: Li A, Fang R, Sun Q. A Particular bicentric structure in dermoscopic demonstration of Degos Disease.  
Dermatol Pract Concept. 2022;12(3):e2022096. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5826/dpc.1203a96

Accepted: October 30, 2021; Published: July 2022

Copyright: ©2022 Li et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 
License (BY-NC-4.0), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/, which permits unrestricted noncommercial use, distribution, and 
reproduction in any medium, provided the original authors and source are credited.

Funding: This research was supported by Sedimentation Integration Fund of Peking Union Medical College Hospital (ZC201902245).

Competing interests: None.

Authorship: All authors have contributed significantly to this publication

Corresponding author: Qiuning Sun, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Department of Dermatology No.1 Shuaifuyuan, Dongcheng 
District, Beijing, China. Tel: +86 13910318639, E-mail: doctorjenny1@126.com

Case Presentation 

A 38-year-old woman suffered recurrent abdominal pain 

and rashes for 1 year. Physical examination showed multi-

ple red papules with porcelain-white centers over her trunk 

and limbs (Figure 1A). Dermoscopic imaging demonstrated 

2 yellow-white structureless centers of different sizes with 

telangiectasia, similar  to a bicentric structure (Figure 1B). 

Histopathology showed intravascular thrombosis in the der-

mis (Figure 1C). Abdominal CT scanning confirmed small 

bowel perforation and abdominal adhesion. A diagnosis of 

Degos disease was made.  

Figure 1. Clinical, dermoscopic, and histopathological figures (A) red papules with porcelain-white atrophic centers (B) two yellow-white 

structureless centers in different sizes with telangiectasia (C) epidermis atrophy, vacuolar degeneration  of  basal  layer, increased collagen 

fibers, and intravascular thrombosis of the dermis.



2 Image Letter | Dermatol Pract Concept. 2022;12(3):e2022096

Teaching point

Degos disease is characterized by unusual chronic throm-

bo-obliterative vasculopathy that affects small vessels. The 

histopathology of Degos disease is inconsistent, so dermos-

copy may be helpful in making  a  definite  diagnosis. The 
dermoscopic character of Degos disease is a homogeneous 

yellow-white structureless area in the center, surrounded by 

a circular hairpin-like small vessel [1,2]. Apart from the fea-

tures mentioned previously, we noticed a particular bicentric 

structure, which is related to avascular  necrosis caused by 

thrombosis.

References

1. Darwich E, Guilabert A, Mascaró JM Jr, et al. Dermoscopic 

description of a patient with thrombocythemia and factor V 

Leiden mutation-associated Degos’ disease. Int J Dermatol. 

2011;50(5):604-6. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-4632.2010.04539.x. 

PMID: 21506980.

2. Anker JP, Kaminska-Winciorek G, Lallas A, et al. The dermo-

scopic variability of Degos disease at different stages of progres-

sion. Dermatol Pract Concept. 2014;4(3):59-61. DOI: 10.5826/

dpc.0403a11. PMID: 25126461. PMCID: PMC4132001.