Tattoo-Associated Skin Reaction: The Importance of an Early Diagnosis and Proper Treatment

Andrea Bassi,¹ Piero Campolmi,¹ Giovanni Cannarozzo,1 Rossana Conti,¹ Nicola Bruscino,1 Massimo Gola,¹ Stefano Ermini,² DanielaMassi,³ and SilviaMoretti¹

¹Department of Surgery and Translational Medicine, Section of Dermatology, University of Florence Medical School, Hospital P. Palagi, 50125 Florence, Italy
²Department of Immunology and Allergology, University of Florence Medical School, 50125 Florence, Italy
³Division of Pathological Anatomy, University of Florence Medical School, 50125 Florence, Italy

 

Tattoo is going to be a very common practice especially among young people and we are witnessing a gradual increase of numerous potential complications to tattoo placement which are often seen by physicians, but generally unknown to the public. The most common skin reactions to tattoo include a transient acute inflammatory reaction due to trauma of the skin with needles and medical complications such as superficial and deep local infections, systemic infections, allergic contact dermatitis, photodermatitis, granulomatous and lichenoid reactions, and skin diseases localized on tattooed area (eczema, psoriasis, lichen, and morphea). Next to these inflammatory skin reactions we have to consider also the possibility of the development of cutaneous conditions such as pseudolymphomatous reactions and pseudoepitheliomatous hyperplasia.The aim of this study is to underline the importance of an early diagnosis by performing a histological examination especially when we are in front of suspected papulonodular lesions arising from a tattoo, followed by a proper treatment, since cutaneous neoplastic evolution is known to be a rare but possible complication.

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