Clinicopathological evaluation of lichenoid tissue reactions in patients referred to Afzalipour Hospital in Kerman, Iran

Lichenoid tissue reactions are a group of skin diseases with hydropic degeneration of the basal cell layer and inflammatory infiltrations in papillary dermis. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinicopathological features of skin diseases with lichenoid tissue reaction.
This retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted on 118 cases with lichenoid tissue reactions. Pathological and clinical features such as age, sex, location of the lesions were evaluated.
53.4% of the patients were female. Mean age of the patients was 39.9±17.37 years. Mean duration of the disease was 21.82±14.3 months. The most common site of involvement was upper limb (24%). The most frequent histopathological findings in epidermis and dermis were hydropic degeneration of the basal cell layer and papillary lymphocytic infiltration (89.9%, 85.5%, respectively). Lymphocytes were the most frequent inflammatory cells in dermis. Colloid bodies and melanin incontinency also were seen in 60.2% and 78% of cases, respectively.
Pathological evaluation can be helpful in differentiating skin disease with lichenoid tissue reactions, if there is a doubt in clinical diagnosis.