title: Plasma cell balanitis presenting in a patient with a history of syphilis.
abstract: Plasma cell balanitis (PCB), also knows as Zoon balanitis, is a benign asymptomatic but chronic and erosive inflammatory condition of the glans penis and prepuce that generally affects uncircumcised men in later years. Clinical presentation involves a single, shiny, well defined reddish patch. We describe the first case of PCB ever reported in a patient with a previous history of syphilis, and include a review of the current literature. A 57-year-old Hispanic man with a remote history of syphilis presented with a 6-month nonhealing, granulating ulcer of the foreskin and glans penis that had been repeatedly mistaken for syphilis and treated unsuccessfully with circumcision 3 weeks previously. Biopsy of the glans penis demonstrated sections with denuded chronic granulation tissue showing a fibrotic stroma with numerous blood vessels and a mixed inflammatory infiltrate including scattered plasma cells. It is important to differentiate PCB from a syphilitic chancre in a patient presenting with a nonhealing penile lesion. This case report demonstrates that these entities may be seen in the same patient at different times.
authors: Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA 90405, USA.
authors: Navid
authors: N
authors: Ezra
authors: Scott W
authors: SW
authors: Binder
authors: Daniel
authors: D
authors: Behroozan
mesh_terms: D001446:Balanitis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D001706:Biopsy; D002944:Circumcision, Male / Q000379:methods; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010950:Plasma Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D013587:Syphilis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology