Potential Pitfall In the Diagnosis of Granulomatous Infiltrates: Non-Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis

摘要

Four Filipino patients who presented with a generalized asymptomatic eruption of erythematous to reddish brown to yellowish papules to nodules are presented. Histopa-thology of all four cases revealed nodular to diffuse granulomatous dermal infiltrates, which led to difficulties in diagnosis and therefore management. The Non-Langerhans Cell Histiocytoses are a heterogeneous group of diseases characterized by a granulomatous dermal infiltrate of resident tissue histiocytes with varied morphology, from foamy, oncocytic to epithelioid histiocytes with abundant cytoplasm and large nuclei, admixed with multinucleated giant cells. Potential pitfalls in the histologic diagnosis may occur due to the presence of a dense nodular to diffuse histiocytic infiltrate which may be misdiagnosed as infectious granulomas or inflammatory granulomas by histopathologist unfamiliar with this group of diseases