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Cross-sectional study to evaluate the utility of elastic tissue staining in primary cicatricial alopecia
  1. Tejas Vishwanath,
  2. Rachita Dhurat
  1. Department of Dermatology, Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College and General Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
  1. Correspondence to Dr Rachita Dhurat; rachitadhurat{at}yahoo.co.in

Abstract

Background and aims Diagnosing end-stage primary cicatricial alopecia (PCA) on routine histology is challenging since the major diagnostic feature (inflammatory infiltrate) may be minimal or absent. This study aimed to assess various staining patterns and diagnostic utility of elastic tissue staining by Verhoeff-Van Gieson (VVG) method and trichoscopy in PCA.

Study design Cross-sectional study.

Methods Fifty-three patients clinically diagnosed with PCA underwent biopsy and trichoscopy in this cross-sectional study. Clinically active edge, if present, was biopsied. Twenty serial tissue sections were stained using H&E and VVG stain. Clinicopathological diagnoses were lichen planopilaris (LPP), discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE), folliculitis decalvans and unclassified PCA (UPCA) in 30 (56.6%), 11 (20.75%), 1 (1.9%) and 11 (20.75%) patients, respectively. Utility of VVG stain was ascertained considering clincopathological correlation (CPC) as the reference standard. Association of characteristic trichoscopic and VVG staining patterns was ascertained.

Results Diagnostic definition was achieved on VVG staining in 19/30 sections of LPP (wedge-shaped pattern) with 63.33% sensitivity; 7/11 cases of DLE (absent upper and mid dermal elastic fibres) with 63.64% sensitivity and 7/11 cases of UPCA (wedge-shaped pattern-3/7; recoil pattern-4/7). Routine histology suggested diagnosis only in 13/53 sections (24.52%). However, diagnosis on VVG staining corresponded with diagnosis on CPC in 33/53 cases (62.3%). Comparison of H&E versus VVG stain both overall and in the LPP and UPCA cohorts proved utility of VVG staining using Fisher’s exact test (p<0.05). Statistical significance was also noted when trichoscopy was correlated with patterns on VVG staining (p<0.05).

Conclusion Increased diagnostic yield is noted with trichoscopy and VVG stain in PCA especially when routine histopathology is non-diagnostic.

  • skin diseases
  • skin
  • inflammation

Data availability statement

Data are available upon reasonable request.

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Data availability statement

Data are available upon reasonable request.

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Footnotes

  • Handling editor Vikram Deshpande.

  • Contributors The manuscript has been read and approved by all the authors. The requirements for authorship have been met, and each author believes that the manuscript represents honest work. Both authors contributed equally to design, definition of intellectual content, literature search, clinical studies, experimental studies, data acquisition, data analysis, statistical analysis, manuscript preparation, manuscript editing and manuscript review. RD conceptualised the study. Both authors are guarantors of the manuscript.

  • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

  • Competing interests None declared.

  • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.