TY - JOUR
T1 - Urticating histiocytosis
T2 - A mast cell-rich variant of histiocytosis X
AU - Foucar, Elliott
AU - Piette, Warren W.
AU - Tse, David T.
AU - Goeken, James
AU - Olmstead, Alan D.
PY - 1986
Y1 - 1986
N2 - Histiocytosis X and mastocytosis are proliferative processes that may have similar cutaneous manifestations. However, a positive Darier's sign (urtication on stroking of the lesion) is thought to reliably distinguish between these two diseases. We recently studied a 13-year-old girl with a 2-year history of extensive skin lesions and a positive Darier's sign. Routine histopathologic studies revealed a polymorphous cutaneous infiltrate composed of histiocytes, mast cells, eosinophils, and lymphoid cells. Electron microscopic studies demonstrated Langerhans granules in some of the histiocytes, and immunologic studies of frozen tissue showed that a significant subpopulation of the histiocytes marked as Langerhans cells. Giemsa staining of specimens from eight other cases of cutaneous histiocytosis X from our files revealed mast cells in all of the lesions, although none showed the abundance of mast cells present in the case with urtication. Our studies emphasize the often polymorphous nature of the cell population in cutaneous histiocytosis X and demonstrate that confusing clinical findings can result when the mast cell population in histiocytosis X produces urtication.
AB - Histiocytosis X and mastocytosis are proliferative processes that may have similar cutaneous manifestations. However, a positive Darier's sign (urtication on stroking of the lesion) is thought to reliably distinguish between these two diseases. We recently studied a 13-year-old girl with a 2-year history of extensive skin lesions and a positive Darier's sign. Routine histopathologic studies revealed a polymorphous cutaneous infiltrate composed of histiocytes, mast cells, eosinophils, and lymphoid cells. Electron microscopic studies demonstrated Langerhans granules in some of the histiocytes, and immunologic studies of frozen tissue showed that a significant subpopulation of the histiocytes marked as Langerhans cells. Giemsa staining of specimens from eight other cases of cutaneous histiocytosis X from our files revealed mast cells in all of the lesions, although none showed the abundance of mast cells present in the case with urtication. Our studies emphasize the often polymorphous nature of the cell population in cutaneous histiocytosis X and demonstrate that confusing clinical findings can result when the mast cell population in histiocytosis X produces urtication.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0022512739&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0022512739&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/S0190-9622(86)70102-3
DO - 10.1016/S0190-9622(86)70102-3
M3 - Article
C2 - 2423566
AN - SCOPUS:0022512739
VL - 14
SP - 867
EP - 873
JO - Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology
JF - Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology
SN - 0190-9622
IS - 5
ER -