[Detection of papillomavirus common antigens in plantar epidermoid cysts]

A total of 23 cases of human papillomavirus-associated epidermoid cysts, including one presented here, have been reported in Japan. A review of the literature revealed that the appearance of eosinophilic intracellular substances and that of vacuolar substances in the horny layer of cysts characterize these cases. High detection of human papillomavirus, the pathological features in these cases, and the observation of our case from the onset in which verrucous lesions had preceded a cyst may favor the possibility that HPV would directly produce cysts in these cases.