Lymphadenosis benigna cutis resulting from Borrelia infection (Borrelia lymphocytoma).
Swelling and erythema of the right pinna developed in a 7-year-old girl. Six months later a biopsy specimen showed a dense, diffuse lymphoplasmacytic infiltrate involving most of the dermis except for a thin Grenz zone. The appearance was consistent with lymphocytoma cutis. She had been bitten by a tick on the right ear in Switzerland 6 weeks before the onset of the lesion. Serologic tests by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for Borrelia burgdorferi, done 6 and 11 months after the bite, yielded optical density readings of 1.04 and 0.65, respectively; indirect immunofluorescence yielded titers of 1:256 and 1:128. A Borrelia-like organism was identified by a modified Steiner stain; immunohistochemistry was noncontributory. The spirochetal origin of lymphadenosis benigna cutis is briefly reviewed.
Albrecht
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S
Department of Pathology, Women's College Hospital, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Hofstadter
S
S
Artsob
H
H
Chaban
O
O
From
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L
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D001706:Biopsy; D015748:Borrelia burgdorferi Group / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002648:Child; D004427:Ear Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D004431:Ear, External; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000473:pathology; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial