Eruptive vellus hair cysts: an effective extraction technique for treatment and diagnosis

BACKGROUND: Eruptive vellus hair cysts are uncommon developmental anomalies of vellus hair follicles that are observed in young patients. Two patients were evaluated for asymptomatic flesh-coloured papules appearing on the chest, abdomen and axillae. Lesions of both patients were diagnosed histologically as eruptive vellus hair cyst, which is a disorder with no standard treatment option. OBJECTIVE: To introduce an alternative treatment and diagnostic technique for eruptive vellus hair cysts and to evaluate this technique's effectiveness histopathologically. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We treated the lesions by using cautery and a standard dissecting forceps under topical anaesthesia. After puncturing the overlying skin in the centre using the sharp-tipped cautery point, we grasped the base of the cyst using a standard dissecting forceps and we extracted the cysts out. In patient 1, extracted cysts were sent for histopathological examination; in patient 2, microscopic examination of the extracted material was performed in potassium hydroxide preparations. RESULTS: Over 150 cysts were extracted with this technique in two patients. The technique was simple, quick and tolerated well. No lesion recurrence was observed after 4 months. On histopathological examination, extracted cysts were observed to have cyst walls. In patient 2, the diagnosis was made within minutes by microscopic examination of the potassium hydroxide preparations of the extracted material. CONCLUSION: Our extraction technique is a simple and effective treatment option for these cysts. It can be regarded as curative since the cyst walls were also extracted. Microscopic examination of the potassium hydroxide preparation of the extracted cysts suggests that this technique can also be used as a simple diagnostic procedure.