Bilateral Becker's nevi

Ramesh Bansal¹ , Rajeev Sen²

¹ Skin V. D. & Allergy Clinic, Jhajjar Road, Rohtak, Haryana, India
² Department of Pathology, P.G.I.M.S. Rohtak, Haryana, India

Correspondence Address:
Ramesh Bansal
Skin V.D. and Allergy Clinic Jhajjar Road, Rohtak - 124001, Haryana
India

Figure 1: Bilateral Becker’s nevus

Figure 1: Bilateral Becker’s nevus

Sir,

Becker′s nevus is a relatively common condition present in about 0.5% of young men. It is also known as pigmented hairy epidermal nevus. ^[1] Classically, Becker′s nevus often appear as a sharply demarcated, unilateral, hyperpigmented tan colored macule over the shoulder or pectoral area in a teenage male. Over time hypertrichosis develops within it. ^[2] A variety of associated noncutaneous abnormalities have been described, but bilateral Becker′s nevi have not been reported in the literature so far. Here, we are reporting occurrence of bilateral Becker′s nevi in a young male without any underlying noncutaneous abnormality or smooth muscle proliferation.

An 18-year-old male with a palm-shaped brown colored patch on each side of the back having coarse dark hairs presented to us. His disease had started appearing three years before and had got stabilized two years after. It was surrounded by typical irregular macular pigmentation. Involvement on the right side was a little lower than on the left side [Figure - 1]. Diagnosis of Becker′s nevus was made. Histopathological examination confirmed the diagnosis and revealed no underlying smooth muscle proliferation. Routine investigation results like hemoglobin, leucocyte count, ESR and urine examination were normal. Other investigations revealed no noncutaneous abnormalities. He was reassured with the fact that it can persist indefinitely without any further untoward outcome.

Becker′s nevus is one of the common developmental defects presenting to dermatologists. It is about five times more frequent in the male than in the female. ^[1] Association of a variety of noncutaneous abnormalities has been described, especially unilateral hypoplasia of the breast in the females. ^[3] Aplasia of the ipsilateral pectoralis major muscle, ipsilateral limb shortening, localized lipoatrophy, spina bifida, scoliosis, pectus carinatum, congenital adrenal hyperplasia and an accessory scrotum had also been found to be associated. ^[1] In this patient, no such abnormalities were found in the presence of bilateral involvement of the nevus. Multiple Becker′s nevi have been reported by Khaitan et al., ^[4] in a 28-year-old male. However, bilateral involvement has not been reported in the literature so far.

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