Lymphocytic Infiltration of Skin

Abstract

Since the original description of lymphocytic infiltration of the skin by Jessner and Kanof 1 in 1953 there has been much discussion regarding its specificity, for it is often difficult to decide when a constellation of clinical characteristics deserves recognition as a specific disease entity. Since all diseases have morphologic variations, it becomes a question of whether the clinical constellation is unique and deserves a separate place in classification or whether it represents only a variation of another clearly established syndrome. This is a particularly pertinent problem in the skin, because the accessibility of the organ to examination makes the slightest variation in clinical characteristic obvious and important. It is within this framework that we must consider the clinical and histologic characteristics of lymphocytic infiltration and its possible relationship to other disease entities. Jessner and Kanof¹described discoid, elevated pink to red-brown lesions, usually on the face, as lymphocytic