Epidemiologic data can be difficult to establish when so few patients are reported. Although numbers are small, reports indicate that NLCA is likely to occur during adulthood. Patients can present with single or multiple lesions. In some reports, lesions were present for several years before patients sought medical attention. Troublesome aspects of NLCA primarily result from patient concerns about appearance, although plaques eventually fissured in one patient in whom the plantar aspects of the feet were affected.
Nodules vary from a few millimeters to a few centimeters.
Nodules appear pink to brown or red. Overlying epidermal atrophy has been described. Other terms that describe the various lesions of NLCA include waxy, purpuric, yellowish, or bullous. Lesions tend not to ulcerate. Normal serum protein electrophoresis and urine protein electrophoresis studies exclude multiple myeloma.