A clinicopathologic approach to granulomatous dermatoses

Reaching a diagnosis or formulating a differential diagnosis in dermatopathology involves combining information from clinical and pathological sources. Traditionally, this process is presented as a chronologic progression from the patient's complaint, through the evaluation of findings, terminating in the microscopic examination of the biopsy specimen. However, dermatopathologists often find the sequence reversed. They must first form an impression of the diagnosis from the slide and then supplement it with clinical information. The purpose of this article is to present the spectrum of granulomatous dermatoses from a pathologic perspective. The dermatoses are categorized into five groups on the basis of histologic patterns.