ANALYSIS OF THE LYMPHOCYTIC INFILTRATE IS A CASE OF VITILIGO

We report a case of vitiligo notable for the degree and pattern of lym phocytic inflammation. Hypopigmentation and subsequent depigmentation developed in a 65-year-old man. Initial skin biopsy specimen from the border of a patch of hypopigmentation revealed a moderately dense peri vascular and interstitial infiltrate of lymphocytes with exocytosis in to epidermis and follicular epithelium. The pattern of the infiltrate suggested the diagnosis of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma or connective-tis sue disease. Immunophenotypic analysis revealed a mature T-cell popula tion with retention of pan-T-cell markers. Analysis of the T-cell rece ptor genome did not identify a rearranged clone. Six months later, the clinical and histologic findings were typical of a noninflamed lesion of vitiligo.