title: Panniculitis: A summary.
abstract: The diagnosis of panniculitis is felt to be a confusing topic by some pathologists. This summarical article presents inflammatory diseases of the subcutis in a systematic fashion, based on whether they are centered on fibrovascular septa or the adipose lobules, and whether morphologic vasculitis is present or not. Septocentric, non-vasculitis disorders include erythema nodosum, panniculitis that follows the use of "biological" therapeutic agents, lipodermatosclerosis, post-irradiation panniculitis, morphea profunda, and necrobiosis lipodica profunda. Polyarteritis nodosa and Behçet's disease are the conditions that are based in the subcutaneous septa with vasculitis. Predominantly-lobular panniculitides with no vasculitis include pancreatogenic panniculitis, the panniculitis of alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency, panniculitis associated with lupus erythematosus and dermatomyositis, subcutaneous Sweet syndrome, eosinophilic panniculitis, factitial panniculitis, cold panniculitis, panniculitis following injections of corticosteroids, lipomembranous (ischemic) panniculitis; sclerema neonatorum and subcutaneous fat necrosis of the newborn, and Rosai-Dorfman disease of the subcutis. Erythema induratum and infectious panniculitis are vasculitic and lobulocentric conditions. This article reviews the histological features of these diseases.
authors.affiliation: Section of Dermatopathology,Dermatopathology, Division of Surgical Pathology & Cytopathology, University of Virginia Medical Center, Charlottesville, VA, USA. Electronic address: mrwick1@usa.net.
authors.forename: Mark R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Wick
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D015434:Panniculitis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology*
keywords: Alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency; Behçet disease; Cold panniculitis; Dermatomyositis; Eosinophilic panniculitis; Erythema induratum, pancreatogenic panniculitis; Erythema nodosum; Factitial panniculitis; Infectious panniculitis; Lipodermatosclerosis; Lupus erythematosus; Morphea profunda; Necrobiosis lipoidica; Pannniculitis; Polyarteritis nodosa; Post-irradiation panniculitis; Sclerema neonatorum; Subcutaneous fat necrosis of the newborn; Sweet syndrome; Vasculitis