title: Primary cutaneous amyloidosis of the external ear: a clinicopathological and immunohistochemical study of 17 cases.
abstract: Primary cutaneous amyloidosis includes several forms of localized amyloidosis characterized by superficial amyloid deposits occurring at or near the dermal-epidermal junction in the absence of systemic involvement. Primary cutaneous amyloidosis of the auricular concha and external ear represents a rarely described variant. There have been 27 cases reported in the English language literature, and herein we report 17 additional cases. This article demonstrates that the amyloid observed in this context is generally positive for Congo red, crystal violet and thioflavin T. It also expresses cytokeratin 34ßE12 via immunohistochemistry. Our immunohistochemical results and review of the literature suggest that the amyloid in amyloidosis of the external ear is the result of basal keratinocyte degeneration and does not signify deposition from a systemic or generalized process.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Scott F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Wenson
authors.forename: Chad J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Jessup
authors.forename: Matthew M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Lisa M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: Mandana
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mahmoodi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000682:Amyloid / Q000378:metabolism*; D000686:Amyloidosis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D020405:Dermis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D004423:Ear / Q000473:pathology*; D004817:Epidermis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D015603:Keratinocytes / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D007633:Keratins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D000682:Amyloid; D007633:Keratins