INTRODUCTION: Over one million treatments in more than 40 countries have been administered Zyplast
implants. Infections at collagen implant sites have occurred in fewer than one per thousand treated
patients.
PRESENTATION OF CASE: We present a case report of a 27-year-old man; he developed a severe granulomatous
reaction in the site of resolvable collagen filler injection Zyplast, and one month later developed
a cutaneous nodular lesion. Histological examination of the lesion revealed Keratoacanthoma (KA) with
surgical margins free of tumor. We performed two surgical corrections within a period of six months on
multiple hypertrophic skin scars of the face. Two years after the last excision, the patient continued to
be free of any recurrence.
DISCUSSION: Keratoacanthoma (KA) is a benign skin tumor with a quick growth pattern but may regress
spontaneously. Though the exact etiology of KA is uncertain, it is found to be more frequent in elderly
people, on photo-exposed skin areas and cutaneous infection site. Bovine collagen intradermal injections,
though catabolized over the time in the patient, can raise several complications already described in
technical literature, but we want underline that cutaneous infection near filler injection site can develope
KA as described in our case report.
CONCLUSION: KA must be considered as a new local unforeseeable complication of bovine collagen injection
to fill facial soft tissue when occurred a face cutaneous infection. We believe that radical excision is
the golden standard.