Dermatopathology Flashcards
Name the anatomic location.
- Look for hair follicles
- What glands are present?
Scalp
- Numerous follicles that extend down into fat
- Sebaceous glands, arrector pili muscles
Name the anatomic location.
- What is present in upper dermis?
- What special cells are present?
- What is absent?
Eyelid
- Skeletal muscle bodies are present in upper dermis
- Stratum corneum and hair follicles are absent on the conjunctival surface of the eyelid, but goblet cells are present
Name the anatomic location.
- What tissue is present?
- What kind of hair follicles are present?
Ear
- Look for cartilage
- Many vellus hair follicles
Name the anatomic location.
- What occurs in the epidermis?
- What is present in the mid to deep dermis?
- What glands are present in the deep dermis?
Areolar skin
- Acanthosis with basilar hyperpigmentation
- Smooth muscle bundles in the mid to deep dermis
- Apocrine glands in reticular dermis
- Sometimes there is a central invagination of the epidermis leading to a follicle and sebaceous gland
Name the anatomic location.
- What is present in abundance in the dermis?
- What other special incidental finding may occur?
Facial skin
- Thin epidermis
- A lot of hair follicles and sebaceous glands in dermis (not in fat like scalp)
- Demodex mites common
Name the anatomic location.
- What occurs in the corneum?
- What gland is there an abundance of?
- What is absent? (2)
Volar skin (palms and soles)
- Compact eosinophilic hyperkeratotic stratum corneum
- Stratum lucidum present
- No hair follicles or sebaceous glands
- A lot of eccrine glands (the major sweat glands of the body)
Name the anatomic location.
- What epidermal layer is absent?
- Why are keratinocytes large and pale?
- What may be present in the submucosa? (2)
Mucosa
- Absent granular layer
- Keratinocytes are large and pale because they are filled with glycogen
- Dilated vessels in submucosa
- Smooth muscle bundles may be present in submucosa (see photo)
Name the anatomic location.
- What is present in the superficial dermis?
- What special cells are present?
- What is absent? (2)
Eyelid
- Skeletal muscle bodies are present in upper dermis
- Stratum corneum and hair follicles are absent on the conjunctival surface of the eyelid, but goblet cells are present
Name the anatomic location.
- What occurs in the corneum?
- What gland is there an abundance of?
- What is absent? (2)
Volar skin (palms and soles)
- Compact eosinophilic hyperkeratotic stratum corneum
- Stratum lucidum present
- No hair follicles or sebaceous glands
- A lot of eccrine glands
Name the cell type.
- What is unique about the nucleus (i.e., how many lobes usually) and cytoplasm?
Eosinophil
- Bilobed nucleus
- Granular cytoplasm
Name the layers in this transverse section of a hair follicle.
Name the layers in this vertical section of a hair follicle
Name the prominent cell.
- Look at the nucleus
Neutrophil
- Multilobulated nucleus (segemented nucleus resembles “ants”)
- Predominant cell in acute infection
Name the cell type.
- What is the dermpath buzzword?
- How would you describe the nucleus and cytoplasm?
- Name three histologic stains for this.
Mast cell
- “Fried egg” appearance
- Central round nucleus and surrounding oval blue cytoplasm
- Contains granules composed of heparin, histamine, tryptase, carboxypeptidase, leukotrienes
- Stains with toluidine blue, CD117 (c-kit) and CD203c
Name the cell type.
- What is special about the nucleus and its placement?
- What is the area adjacent to to the nucleus called?
Plasma cell
- Eccentric nucleus with “clock face”
- Perinuclear Hopf (clearing), corresponding to Golgi apparatus
Name the cell type.
- How does the nucleus and cytoplasm compare with a lymphocyte?
- What is the cell of origin?
Histiocyte
- Epithelioid cell with central, round/oval nucleus (that is less dense than a lymphocyte) surrounded by pale pink cytoplasm (i.e., relatively lower N:C ratio)
- Derived from monocytes
- Functions: phagocytosis and antigen presentation
Name the predominant inflammatory cell.
- What is notable about the nucleus and cytoplasm?
Lymphocyte
- Round dark nucleus
- Generally no visible cytoplasm (i.e., very high N:C ratio)
Name the cell type.
- What is notable about the nucleus?
- What markers are positive? (4)
- What are they derived from?
Langerhans cell
- Dendritic cells in epidermis and dermis that present antigens to T-cells
- Eccentric, reniform (kidney-shaped) nucleus
- CD1a+, S100+, peanut agglutinin+, langerin+
- Birbeck granules (tennis racket-shaped) seen on electron microscopy
- Derived from monocytes
Name the cell at the arrow.
- What lesions can this be found in? (3)
Touton giant cell
- Found in juvenile xanthogranuloma, xanthoma and sometimes dermatofibroma (such as “ankle-type”)
Name the type of secretory gland.
Sebaceous glands
(In sebaceous gland hyperplasia)
Name the type of secretory gland.
Eccrine glands
- The major sweat glands in the body
- Two layers of cells
Name the type of secretory gland.
Apocrine glands
(Think about apocrine hidradenoma and cystadenoma.)
What does S100 stain?
- What cell origin?
S100
- Stains neural crest-derived cells and some mesenchymal lines
- Stains: melanocytes, Langerhans cells, sweat glands, nerves, Schwann cells, myoepithelial cells, fat, muscle, and chondrocytes
- Photo is of a granular cell tumor.
What does Sox-10 stain? (2)
Sox-10
- Nuclear marker of Schwann cells and melanocytes
- Sensitive marker of melanoma
- Photo is of desmoplastic melanoma
What does CK polyclonal keratin (pankeratin) stain?
- What tumors would stain positive?
- What tumors would NOT stain positive?
CK polyclonal keratin (pankeratin)
- All epithelial tumors (SCC, adnexal tumors)
- Does NOT stain mesenchymal, melanocytic and hematopoietic tumors
- More sensitive than AE1/AE3 (monoclonal cytokeratin antibodies)
What does PAS stain?
- It stains 3 things red.
- What can it be useful in diagnosing?
PAS (periodic acid-Schiff)
- Stains glycogen, neutral mucopolysaccharides (such as the basement membrane) and fungi red
- Useful in tinea corporis, tinea versicolor, candida, basement membrane thickening of lupus erythematosis
- Photo is of PAS-positive fungi in stratum corneum (tinea versicolor) with light green counter-stain
What type of stain was used on this slide with Nocardia?
- For what organisms is this stain helpful?
Fite acid-fast stain
- Mycobacteria appear bright red
- Fite is preferred for “partially acid-fast” organisms like lepra bacilli, atypical mycobacteria and Nocardia
What stain was used on this slide of focal mucinosis?
- What does it stain?
Colloidal iron
- A carbohydrate stain
- Blue color indicates acid mucopolysaccharides
- Can be combined with hyaluronidase digestion to differentiate between hyaluronic acid and other mucosubstances
What is this stain and what is it used for?
- What is helpful for distinguishing between?
Iron stain, a.k.a. Prussian blue, a.k.a. Perls stain
- Ferric ions react to form deep blue color
- Useful to distinguish melanin from hemosiderin
- Example: hemosiderin in pigmented purpuric dermatosis
- Will not stain iron in intact RBCs
- Photograph is blue iron deposition from Monsel’s use
What stain was used in this slide of vitiligo, and what does it stain?
Fontana-Masson
- Stains melanin with a black precipitate
- A silver stain
Interface dermatitis is split into what two basic patterns?
- Lichenoid
- Vacuolar
Identify the reaction pattern.
Spongiosis
- Intracellular edema in epidermis with stretching of cell-cell junctions
Identify the reaction pattern.
Spongiosis
- Intracellular edema in epidermis with stretching of cell-cell junctions
What are the three components of lichenoid interface dermatitis?
- Sawtooth rete ridge pattern with destruction of the basal layer
- Bandlike lymphoid infiltrate
- Presence of Civatte bodies (debris left behind after keratinocyte apoptosis)
- Things can be further divided based on whether parakeratosis and eosinophils are present
What are the three basic components of vacuolar interface dermatitis (according to Elston)?
- Intact basal layer
- Vacuoles within the basal layer
- Rounded rete pattern
What inflammatory reaction pattern is seen here?
Vacuolar interface dermatitis
What inflammatory reaction pattern is seen here?
Vacuolar interface dermatitis
What are common causes of spongiotic dermatitis? (5)
- Allergic contact dermatitis
- Dyshidrotic dermatitis
- Nummular dermatitis
- Stasis dermatitis
- Id reaction
Granulomas are made of which immune cell type?
Histiocytes
What are the four categories of granulomas?
- Which have surrounding inflammation?
- Which have central necrosis?
- Which features neutrophils?
- Sarcoidal: composed of epithelioid histiocytes in “naked granulomas” with little surrounding inflammation
- Tuberculoid: peripheral mononuclear infiltrate and central caseous necrosis
- Palisading: histiocytes surround devitalized collagen (necrobiosis), mucin or foreign material
- Suppurative: central collection of neutrophils (i.e., stellate abscess)