HISTOPATHOLOGY OF THE NODOSE LESIONS OF THE LOWER EXTREMITIES

Abstract

NODOSE lesions of the lower extremities are most frequently due to inflammatory reactions which are primarily localized in the subcutaneous fat, its connective tissue septums and blood vessels. The changes in the overlying cutis and epidermis are secondary to those in the subcutaneous fat and its septums and vessels. These nodes and lesions have an intense central reaction which gradually recedes at the periphery, with the formation of the indistinct borders observed clinically. Atrophic changes in the fat lobules were classified into four types by Flemming in 1871, according to Schidachi.¹ The first type is simple atrophy, in which the individual cells become smaller. The contained fat globules are smaller, and thus the volume of fat cells in the fat lobule is diminished. The second type is the result of liquefaction or serous degeneration. In this sort of change the fat globule becomes smaller. A serous substance is found