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Calcified Bodies in New World Cutaneous Leishmaniasis

Alvarez, Patricia MD*; Salinas, Cesar MD*; Bravo, Francisco MD*†

American Journal of Dermatopathology: December 2011 - Volume 33 - Issue 8 - pp 827-830
doi: 10.1097/DAD.0b013e3181feb7d2
Extraordinary Case Report

We report a case of a 9-year-old boy who presented with 2 lesions that were compatible clinically with cutaneous leishmaniasis of the New World. A skin biopsy showed tuberculoid granulomas with rounded calcified bodies. The diagnosis was supported by a positive leishmanin test and a positive polymerase chain reaction. The patient responded to specific treatment for leishmaniasis. These calcified bodies, described under different names in the literature (Michaelis–Gutmann bodies, Schaumann bodies, psammoma bodies, or conchoidal bodies), have been reported in an experimental leishmaniasis and, only once before, in a case of human leishmaniasis of the Old World.

From the *Laboratorio Universitario de Dermatopatologia, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru; and †Servicio de Dermatologia, Hospital Nacional Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru.

The authors have no funding or conflicts of interest to disclose.

Reprints: Patricia Alvarez, MD, Laboratorio Universitario de Dermatopatologia, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima 31, Peru (e-mail: pacmed22@yahoo.com).

© 2011 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.