An ultrastructural study of the mononuclear cell infiltrate of mycosis fungoides and poikiloderma atrophicans vasculare.

Abstract

Summary Tissue from twenty-five patients with mycosis fungoides and three patients with poikiloderma atrophicans vasculare was examined ultrastructurally. Characteristic abnormal lymphoid cells were conspicuous in all biopsies comprising 30–60% of the cutaneous infiltrate. These cells possessed irregular nuclear outlines presenting a spectrum from mild indentation to grossly cerebriform shapes. The other prominent cell type was the histiocyte which occasionally appeared abnormal. Bizarre histiocytic cells resembling the interdigitating reticulum cell of lymph node T cell areas were also observed. In the epidermal infiltrate, abnormal lymphoid cells were seen singly infiltrating between keratinocytes and less frequently in groups, forming Pautrier microabscesses, or in close apposition to histiocytes. Langerhans cells appeared in normal numbers and were usually isolated but were occasionally seen in contact with lymphoid cells.