Basal Cell Carcinoma: Histologic Diagnostic Pitfalls-Case Report (original) (raw)

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC), although a very often dermatological issue, may embrace various morphological forms that the pathologist is required to accurately diagnose. We present the case of a 15 years old girl with a nodular tumor observed, on skin, in a subclavian area, with dimensions within 0,7/0,7/0,4 cm. The microscopic appearance of the tumor resembles a BCC, with basaloid and rare scuamoid features, but no atypia or peripheral clefting, within a normal dermis with marked plasocytic inflammation and reticular areas; differential diagnosis included trichoepithelioma, Merkel cell carcinoma, trichoblastoma and microcystic adnexal carcinoma. The final diagnosis proved to be a trichoepithelioma. Therefore, the importance of differential diagnosis in BCC and BCC-like conditions requires mainly classical histologic criteria, with, depending on case, subsequent molecular confirmation techniques. The article depicts the required attitude in such a situation, allowing an illumination ...