In vivo abnormal keratinization in Darier-White's disease as viewed by real-time confocal imaging

Darier-White's disease is a rare autosomal-dominant disorder of keratinization. The underlying pathology for the clinical presentation is acantholysis, and various types of dyskeratosis and acanthosis. In this study, we utilized a non-invasive optical imaging modality, confocal reflectance microscopy, to identify specific histologic features of DarierWhite's disease in vivo. Micrographic findings in the confocal images were corps ronds, suprabasal clefts, acantholytic suprabasal keratinocytes, and villi. Real-time confocal images are illustrative and can be well correlated with known light microscopic phenomena, particularly in the case of keratinization abnormalities in Darier-White's disease.