Necrobiosis lipoidica: A case with histopathological findings revealed asteroid bodies and was successfully treated with dipyridamole plus intralesional triamcinolone

The significance of necrobiosis lipoidica (NL) includes its relationship with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, its tendency to break down into painful ulcers, an albeit tenuous association with squamous cell carcinoma and, by no means least, its cosmetic impact, occurring as it does on the shins of young and middle-aged women. Necrobiosis (degeneration of collagen) and granulomous inflammation are well-documented histological findings in NL; however, to see an asteroid body in an area of NL is rare. To the best of our knowledge, there is only one such report of NL described so far. We report the case of a NL patient whose histopathological examination revealed asteroid bodies. The patient had suffered persistent NL for a period of more than 2 years. She was successfully treated with dipyridamole plus intralesional triamcinolone and the lesions healed completely after 2 months of therapy. The patient has remained free of lesions since discontinuing therapy.