PURPOSE: To describe a patient with Meige syndrome in whom we observed the coexistence of hereditary lymphedema of the lower legs, conjunctival edema and alopecia of the lateral third of the eyebrows. METHODS: Case report. RESULTS: Histological examination of the conjunctival and skin specimens showed dermal edema and a slight reduction in the number of severely ectatic lymphatics in the reticular dermis. The vessel were identified as lymphatics on the basis of immunohistochemical evidence of discontinuity and/or absence of basement membrane. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical and histological findings suggest that the etiopathogenesis of the edema in Meige syndrome is related to a structural ectatic defect of lymphatics. This anomaly seems to involve both skin and other sites, such as conjunctival mucosa.
PURPOSE: To describe a patient with Meige syndrome in whom we observed the coexistence of hereditary lymphedema of the lower legs, conjunctival edema and alopecia of the lateral third of the eyebrows. METHODS: Case report. RESULTS: Histological examination of the conjunctival and skin specimens showed dermal edema and a slight reduction in the number of severely ectatic lymphatics in the reticular dermis. The vessel were identified as lymphatics on the basis of immunohistochemical evidence of discontinuity and/or absence of basement membrane. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical and histological findings suggest that the etiopathogenesis of the edema in Meige syndrome is related to a structural ectatic defect of lymphatics. This anomaly seems to involve both skin and other sites, such as conjunctival mucosa.