BACKGROUND To determine the composition of skin pigmentation in chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) and other less common vascular conditions of lower limbs. METHODS Forty-five skin biopsies were obtained from 17 patients. Samples were taken from pigmented regions and compared with control non-lesional samples from the same patient. Perl's Prussian Blue was used to identify haemosiderin and Schmorl's for melanin. RESULTS Seven patients presented with CVI, one with concurrent livedo vasculopathy (LV). One patient had LV only. Two patients had acroangiodermatitis (AAD). Six patients had post-sclerotherapy pigmentation (PSP), one with concurrent post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH). One patient had PIH only. The predominant pigment in CVI samples was haemosiderin. C5-C6 patients showed increased epidermal melanin. LV, AAD, and PSP samples showed dermal haemosiderin but no increase in epidermal melanin. PIH samples showed prominent epidermal melanin whilst no haemosiderin was detected. CONCLUSION The predominant pigment in CVI and other vascular conditions was haemosiderin. Melanin was present in later stages of CVI (C5-C6) and in PIH.

中文翻译：

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下肢色素沉着：含铁血黄素和黑色素在慢性静脉功能不全及相关疾病中的作用。

背景 确定慢性静脉功能不全 (CVI) 和其他不太常见的下肢血管疾病中皮肤色素沉着的组成。方法 从 17 名患者身上获取 45 份皮肤活检样本。从色素沉着区域采集样本，并与同一患者的对照非病变样本进行比较。Perl 的普鲁士蓝用于鉴定含铁血黄素，Schmorl 的普鲁士蓝用于鉴定黑色素。结果 7 名患者出现 CVI，其中 1 名患者并发青斑血管病 (LV)。一名患者仅有左心室。两名患者患有肢端血管皮炎（AAD）。六名患者出现硬化治疗后色素沉着（PSP），其中一名患者并发炎症后色素沉着过度（PIH）。一名患者仅有 PIH。CVI 样品中的主要色素是含铁血黄素。C5-C6患者表现出表皮黑色素增加。LV、AAD 和 PSP 样本显示真皮含铁血黄素，但表皮黑色素没有增加。PIH 样本显示出明显的表皮黑色素，但未检测到含铁血黄素。结论 CVI 和其他血管疾病中的主要色素是含铁血黄素。黑色素存在于 CVI 后期 (C5-C6) 和 PIH 中。