Histopathological study of vesiculobullous lesions of skin

Abstract

Histopathology of skin biopsies is a useful technique in the investigation of various skin diseases, out of which vesiculobullous lesions from one of the predominant groups. Vesicles [blisters less than 0.5 cm in diameter] and bullae [blisters greater than 0.5 cm in diameter] occur in a number of skin conditions1 These blistering disorders are the most visually dramatic of skin disease. Each entity in this group has distinct clinical features and these lesions share a number of histologic features, but only to some extent have common pathogenic mechanisms.The present study showed a prevalence of 74 cases [21% of the total skin biopsies] of Vesiculobullous lesions among the 354 skin biopsies received in the department of pathology over a period of 1 year The age of onset varied from 3 years to 65 years. But the types of lesions varied between the various age groups. The commonest lesion overall was bullous pemphigoid followed by Pemphigus vulgaris.In the present study of 74 cases clinical diagnosis correlated with the histological diagnosis in 64.2% of the cases and in 25.6% of the cases, the diagnosis was done only on histology, where as in 9.4% of the cases it was difficult to offer a conclusive histological diagnosis. This establishes that along with clinical correlation, histo-morphological study forms one of the most useful tool in the diagnosis of Vesiculobullous skin disorders.