• Multiple subcutaneous nodules and recurrent flu-like episodes developed in a 60-year-old woman after she had received local intramuscular injections of procaine povidone for a seven-year period. A skin biopsy specimen showed distinctive grayblue material in the histiocytes in sections stained with hematoxylin-eosin. Povidone is an inert substance that may accumulate in multiple organs, including the skin. Its presence can be verified by its affinity for special stains or by spectrophotometric analysis. In our patient, ultrastructural study showed amorphous intrahistiocytic deposits in the tissues. Previous reports have indicated that this substance may eventually accumulate in noninjected skin sites and may lead to pulmonary and arthritic symptoms in some patients, but no other patients, to our knowledge, have had complications associated with fever.

(Arch Dermatol 116:704-706, 1980)