Polyvinylpyrrolidone (povidone) storage in RX-damaged skin following procaine-povidone intramuscular injections.

A man, aged 67, has been treated in 1968 by X-rays for a basal-cell carcinoma of the back. The treatment was followed by an ulcerative radiodermatitis. 3 years later, the patient was treated by ten intramuscular injections of procaine-polyvinylpyrrolidone (or procaine-povidone) for sciatic neuralgia. An orange infiltration appeared progressively around the radiodermatitis. The area was excised in 1979 and polyvinylpyrrolidone (povidone) storage, responsible for the ring-shaped orange hue, could be demonstrated in the dermis and subcutaneous fat. Special stainings confirmed the presumed chemical nature of the deposits. 3 cases of povidone pseudotumours following procaine-povidone injections had been described previously. The preferential deposit of povidone in RX-damaged skin is discussed.