Sclerosing lipogranuloma of the male genitalia containing vitamin E: a comparison with classical "paraffinoma".

Sclerosing lipogranuloma of the male genitalia is a rare but distinctive abnormality of the dermis and subcutaneous tissue generally attributed to paraffin injection. We present the results of lipid analysis of lesional tissue from two patients showing the classical clinicopathologic features of this process. No history of local injections could be obtained from either patient. In one case, the patient had applied a vitamin E preparation to the affected area, and tissue lipid analysis demonstrated large quantities of tocopherol and tocopheryl acetate. Analysis of the second case demonstrated a large quantity of tissue paraffin. While this latter patient had applied a topical petrolatum-containing antibiotic preparation to his genital skin, gas-liquid chromatography demonstrated that the paraffins in this preparation differed markedly from the tissue paraffins. No source for this patient's abnormal tissue lipid could be identified.