Histopathological Analysis of Psoriasis

Abstract

Background: Treatment of psoriasis results in alteration in clinical and histopathology findings with resultant inconclusive histopathology findings and a diagnostic dilemma in resource-poor settings. Objective: To document the histopathology of clinically correlated psoriasis, compare it with other studies and observe any differences in features. Methodology: A retrospective cross-sectional evaluation of 60 cases histopathologically diagnosed as psoriasis was conducted at the ClinaLancet laboratory in Lagos, Nigeria over a 2-week period. Slides of 60 dermatology clinic treatment-naive cases diagnosed by dermatologists with histopathological correlation as psoriasis were retrieved, observed under the microscope and the features of psoriasis were documented in a pre-designed proforma. Data were entered into a Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet. Simple means and frequencies were presented. Results: There were 35 females (58.3%) and 25 males (41.7%). The mean age of the patients was 41.55 ± 19.03 years; age range was 1-83 years. The commonly observed features of psoriasis were hyperkeratosis (100%), acanthosis (100%), perivascular infiltrates (100%), parakeratosis (95%), absent granular layer (83.3%), supra-papillary plate thinning (86.7%) and Munro microabscess (45%). The findings were comparable to other studies. Conclusion: The findings from this study are similar to the findings from other histopathology studies of psoriasis. Iatrogenic intervention does not significantly change the histopathology features of psoriasis to the extent that a conclusive diagnosis cannot be made.