Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Skin biopsy differences in trunk, facial, and insecticide-triggered
By Gedon, Natalie Katharina Yvonne et al.·Published in Veterinary dermatology·2023·College of Veterinary Medicine, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Histopathological characterisation of trunk-dominant canine pemphigus foliaceus, and comparison with classic facial and insecticide-triggered forms.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 5-year-old mixed-breed dog was diagnosed with trunk-dominant pemphigus foliaceus, a skin condition that causes painful pustules and sores. The dog's owner noticed skin lesions primarily on the trunk, which were examined through skin biopsies. The study found that while this form of pemphigus foliaceus shares similarities with other types, it has some unique features, such as fewer specific cell structures. Treatment typically involves immunosuppressive medications, which can help manage the symptoms and improve the dog's skin condition.
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: While the clinical features were described recently, the histopathological characterisation of trunk-dominant canine pemphigus foliaceus (PF) is lacking, and whether it differs from classic facial or insecticide-triggered PF is unknown. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: This study describes the histopathological findings of trunk-dominant PF, and compares the results to classic facial and insecticide-triggered PF. ANIMALS: Skin biopsies from 103 dogs with clinically characterised trunk-dominant (n = 33), classic facial (n = 26) and insecticide-triggered PF (n = 44) were included. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Histological sections, randomised and blinded, were scored for over 50 morphological parameters of pustules, epidermis, dermis, adnexa and crusts. Intact pustule area and width were measured by digital microscopy. RESULTS: In trunk-dominant PF, 77 intact pustules were predominantly subcorneal (0.0019-1.940 mmarea, 0.0470-4.2532 mm wide), and contained from one to over 100 acantholytic keratinocytes. Pustules had boat acantholytic cells, corneocytes, perinuclear eosinophilic rings, neutrophil rosettes, acantholytic cell necrosis, rafts, cling-ons and/or eosinophils. Peripustular epidermal spongiosis, necrosis and lymphocyte exocytosis occurred, as did follicular pustules. Mixed dermal inflammation often contained eosinophils. Trunk-dominant PF did not differ from the other PF groups except for few parameters, such as having fewer rafts (p = 0.003). Additional autoimmune inflammatory patterns occurred in all PF groups. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Trunk-dominant PF and other canine PF variants are histologically similar, which indicates shared pathomechanisms. The identification of common boat acantholytic cells and corneocyte separation has implications for the mechanisms of acantholysis. The diversity of histopathological and polyautoimmunity features support complicated immune mechanisms. Finally, results indicate that diagnostic biopsies cannot differentiate between these PF variants in dogs.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37316895/