Fibrous Paeulp of the Nose*

SUMMARY.— A study has been made of 34 cases of fibrous papule of the nose presenting at St John's Hospital for Diseases of the Skin in the past decade, Histological sections from biopsies of these lesions were examined and compared with lesions of juvenile melanoma and naevus cell naevus arising on the face. In 2 patients fibrous papules were investigated by enzyme histochemical methods. Fibrous papules were usually single small nodules on the nose, often simulating angiomata, moles or pyogenic granulomata. The sexes were equally affected and most of the patients were in the third to the fifth decades. Although these lesions were not distinctive clinically, histologically they presented a characteristic appearance, which included a distinctive fibro‐vascular component composed of broad bands of connective tissue orientated at right angles to the surface and interspersed with multinucleate cells and undoubted naevus cells, and an increased number of epidermal clear cells. A marked decrease in the elastic staining properties of the dermal connective tissue was characteristic of these lesions as was increased staining with P.A.S. The available evidence, including the enzyme histochemical findings, is consistent with this lesion being a member of the naevus cell spectrum of disorders.