A clinicopathologic study of morphea in Korean patients

Abstract

Background: The exact pathogenesis of morphea is poorly understood, and only a few clinical or histopathological studies have been conducted in Asian patients. Objective: The aim of this study was to identify the clinical and histopathological characteristics of morphea in Korean patients. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 101 patients whose clinicopathologic findings were compatible with morphea and analyzed demographic characteristics, number of lesions, disease subtype and histopathological findings.

Results: Overall, circumscribed morphea (52.5%) was the most common clinical type, followed by linear (28.7%), mixed (13.9%) and generalized (5.0%) type. Disease duration was positively correlated with increased thickness of the skin in 54 patients (p < 0.001). Inflammatory cell infiltration was absent in 54, mild in 30 and moderate in 14 patients. There was no significant difference in the mean ratio of lesional to normal skin thickness (L/N ratio) among four types of morphea. Disease duration was not correlated with the density of inflammatory cell infiltration (p = 0.68). There were statistically significant differences in the duration of disease according to plasma cell counts (p < 0.05).

Conclusions: A positive correlation was found between skin thickness and disease duration, but mean L/N ratio was not significantly different among various types of morphea.