Ultrastructural studies of epidermal lesions in pityriasis lichenoides chronica.

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Abstract
Very early skin lesions from 4 patients with pityriasis lichenoides chronica were examined by EM. Aggregates of tubular structures, which resembled those reported in endothelium in lupus erythematosus and are currently being observed in an increasing variety of conditions, were noticed in the epidermal cells of all patients. These cells also showed intracytoplasmic desmosomes, and isolated mitochondria and myelin-like figures in intercellular spaces, in addition to the occurrence of vacuoles and lysosomes in the cytoplasm, dilatation of endoplasmic reticulum and alteration of mitochondria. Occasionally, epidermal cells were individually filled with fibrils. These ultrastructural findings seem to indicate that in pityriasis lichenoides chronica some injury to epidermal cells occurs at the early stage of pathological processes, as suggested by light microscope studies.