ELECTRON MICROSCOPE STUDIES OF DERMAL-EPIDERMAL SEPARATION IN HUMAN SKIN

[摘要] A survey of ultrastructural alterations at the dermo-epidermal junction in selected blistering diseases and experimental dermo-epidermal separations was made. The basement membrane is a tough, dense structure of unknown composition that remains intact in most of the clinical and experimental situations studied. In lichen planus and in separation by action of thiocyanate, the morphologic changes may be due to alterations in the properties of the cell membranes, the basement membrane, or an adhesive substance between the two. In liquid nitrogen blistering, necrosis of basal cells appears to be the most critical phenomenon. Epidermolysis bullosa blisters result primarily from disintegration of the cytoplasm of the basal cells. It would appear from this evidence that dermo-epidermal separation may primarily involve a single structural component and that these morphologic manifestations may be helpful in explaining the pathogenesis of the lesions.