Virus-like structures in the skin in the course of chronic lupus erythematosus

Six skin biopsies of one patient, from foci of chronic lupus erythematosus in different stages of development of the disease and from unchanged skin were examined by electron microscope. The aim of the investigations performed was to check the presence of reticulotublar structures in these samples. Reticulotublar structures appeared in numerous quantities in early foci, while in scarred foci, as in structurally unchanged skin, they were, although always present, rare.