title: Follicular acantholysis: a subtle clue to the early diagnosis of pemphigus vulgaris.
abstract: The histologic hallmark of fully established pemphigus vulgaris (PV), a chronic autoimmune disease of the skin and mucosa, is the presence of acantholysis induced at the suprabasal level. This case report of acantholysis restricted to the follicular epithelium as a subtle histologic manifestation of the disease, draws attention to the pitfalls encountered in the histologic diagnosis of early cases of pemphigus vulgaris.
authors.affiliation: Quest Diagnostics Incorporated, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. mahalinm@questdiagnostics.com
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mahalingam
mesh_terms: D000051:Acantholysis / Q000473:pathology*; D000328:Adult; D003176:Complement C3 / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D018859:Hair Follicle / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D015603:Keratinocytes / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D010392:Pemphigus / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D003176:Complement C3; D007074:Immunoglobulin G