Author: Assoc Prof Patrick Emanuel, Dermatopathologist, Auckland, New Zealand, 2013.
Necrotisinginfundibular crystalline folliculitis is characterised clinically by sharply demarcated waxy papules. It is caused by follicular accumulation of a material which is thought to be derived from Malassezia yeasts, bacteria, and/or sebaceouslipids.
Histology of necrotising infundibular crystalline folliculitis
In necrotising infundibular crystalline folliculitis, sections show filamentous deposits, enclosed by parakeratotic columns within partly necroticfollicle ostium (figure 1). There is incidental actinic keratosis in the case illustrated herein. Higher power examination shows crystalline urate-like structures within the filamentous material (figures 2, 3). The material is birefringent with polarised light.