Time Won't Heal This Wound

An 85-year-old black man presents with a nonhealing, asymptomatic lesion on his cheek. He says the problem began several months ago, during a fishing trip, when some fishing line got caught in his beard, pulling out a few hairs in the process.

An accompanying relative, however, is quite certain that the lesion predates the fishing incident (for which he was present). He believes the lesion has been there for two years. He also advises that the patient’s memory is “not what it used to be.”

The patient has a significant history of sun exposure from his job as a stonemason, which kept him outdoors most of the time. He has been seen by a variety of providers and diagnosed with several infections, including pyoderma—but antibiotics have had no effect on the lesion.

EXAMINATION
Located on the right lateral cheek is a 2.4-cm, full-thickness ulceration that penetrates well into adipose tissue. Little if any redness can be seen around the lesion, and no adjacent nodes are palpable. A shave biopsy of the lesion is obtained.

What is the diagnosis?