Clinical Features:

• Caused by a gram-negative bacillus Bartonella henelae
• Infection caused by a cat scratch or bite, most commonly on the hand or arm of children.
• The initial skin lesion heals within two weeks, and patients may develop systemic symptoms.
• Tender regional lymphadenopathy develops several weeks later, and the lymph nodes are more commonly biopsied than skin lesions.

Histologic Features:

• Skin lesions may show palisading granulomas surrounding areas of necrobiosis, sometimes with ulceration or epidermal hyperplasia.
• Sometimes the findings are less characteristic, showing only perivascular or lichenoid lymphoplasmacytic or neutrophilic infiltrates.
• Clumps of the bacilli may be visible on Warthin-Starry stain.

Cases associated with this book:

Cat scratch disease
Author: Stephen Lyle, M.D., Ph.D.

Conference: DermatopathologyConsultations.com Teaching Collection