title: A case of extramammary Paget's disease mimicking pemphigus vulgaris on histologic examination.
abstract: We present a case of extramammary Paget's disease (EMP) on the vulva of a 77-year-old female that on histologic examination resembled pemphigus vulgaris. The diagnosis of EMP was established with the help of a periodic acid-Schiff stain and immunophenotyping. Ultrastructural studies revealed no desmosomes between tumor cells and keratinocytes and only rare desmosomes between adjacent tumor cells. A high number of tumor cells with scant desmosomes may be the ultrastructural correlate with cellular discohesion in the lower epidermis and with the histologic resemblance to pemphigus vulgaris.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Stanford University Medical Center. skohler@pathology.stanford.edu
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kohler
authors.forename: B R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Smoller
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002452:Cell Count; D004396:Coloring Agents; D003896:Desmosomes / Q000648:ultrastructure; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004817:Epidermis / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D015603:Keratinocytes / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000473:pathology; D010145:Paget Disease, Extramammary / Q000473:pathology*; D010392:Pemphigus / Q000473:pathology*; D010503:Periodic Acid-Schiff Reaction; D014845:Vulvar Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D014846:Vulvar Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D004396:Coloring Agents