Juvenile xanthogranuloma: retrospective analysis of 44 pediatric cases (single tertiary care center experience)

Background/Objective Juvenile xanthogranuloma (JXG) is a rarely encountered skin disorder, which is characterized by the proliferation of non-Langerhans cell histiocytes. As JXG primarily affects infants and young children, this study aims to describe the epidemiologic, clinical, and histopathologic characteristics of 44 children diagnosed with JXG at a tertiary health care center. Methods Fourty-four children with a histopathologic diagnosis of JXG between January 2003 and January 2017 were retrospectively reviewed. Data related to epidemiologic, clinical, and histopathologic features were extracted from hospital records. Results The mean age of the affected patients was 4.6 years old (range: 0-17 years old) at the time of diagnosis. Twenty-five patients (56.8%) were male, and 19 patients were female (43.2%). Thirty-six children (81.8%) had solitary JXG, one of which was a giant congenital JXG; eight children (18.2%) had eruptive JXG. The heterozygote mutation associated with neurofibromatosis 1 gene was detected in one patient who had both eruptive JXG and numerous cafe-au-lait spots. Another patient with eruptive JXG was identified to have hypercholesterolemia. None of the children with eruptive JXG developed symptoms or signs of extracutaneous involvement during their clinical follow-up. Conclusion Since JXG is rarely encountered, there may be a tendency toward over-treatment, given concerns for extracutaneous involvement. However, our review revealed no instances of extracutaneous involvement.