APOPTOSIS IN HUMAN EPIDERMIS: A POSTMORTEM STUDY BY LIGHT AND ELECTRON MICROSCOPY*

Abstract

S ummary Samples of clinically normal skin from a sun‐protected site were obtained from 106 autopsy eases. For the first time epithelial apoptosis was documented in postmortem skin, and illustrated using light and electron micrographs. The epidermis was otherwise normal clinically and histologically. A close morphological similarity was observed between these apoptotic keratinocytes and examples of individual epithelial cell death previously described in lichen planus and certain other dermatoses.