A 48-year-old man has diffuse erythroderma, intense pruritus, and circulating atypical lymphocytes with deeply grooved cerebriform nuclei. Skin biopsy shows band-like infiltrates of these cells in the upper dermis with epidermotropism forming intraepidermal collections. These intraepidermal aggregates are called:

• A Dutcher bodies
• B Munro microabscesses
• C Pautrier microabscesses ✓
• D Warthin-Finkeldey giant cells

Explanation

Cerebriform Sézary cells with epidermotropism and intraepidermal collections of atypical T cells are Pautrier microabscesses, the hallmark of mycosis fungoides and its leukemic phase, Sézary syndrome. Munro microabscesses are neutrophil collections within parakeratotic stratum corneum in psoriasis, Dutcher bodies are intranuclear pseudo-inclusions of IgM in plasma cells of Waldenström macroglobulinaemia, and Warthin-Finkeldey cells occur in measles and some lymphomas.

Reference: Robbins and Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease, 10th ed.

High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP

Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.