Publications by authors named "Michelle Pitch"

The Covid pandemic necessitated changes in traditional mentorship and educational roles. We offer our experience in structuring a virtual dermatopathology mentorship in the midst of the pandemic. Virtual mentorships have many benefits including ease of access, lack of geographic restrictions, and financial savings, though there still remains an important and irreplaceable role for in-person relationships.

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Background: Traction alopecia (TA) is common, but histopathologic criteria for TA have not been objectively defined.

Objective: Determine whether the pauci-follicular unit (PFU) can be used as a diagnostic criterion for TA. Compared to a normal follicular unit (NFU), the PFU is a noninflamed follicular unit with an intact sebaceous gland but fewer than 2 follicles.

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Article Synopsis
  • Pretibial myxedema (PTM) is a rare complication of Graves' disease, marked by swelling and skin changes on the lower legs.
  • The cause of PTM is not fully understood, but it may involve activated fibroblasts and excessive glycosaminoglycan production, similar to thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy.
  • Two patients with persistent PTM showed improvement after treatment with teprotumumab, an IGF-1 receptor inhibitor that is typically used for thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy.
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Pustular psoriasis of pregnancy (PPP), also known as impetigo herpetiformis, is a rare condition that affects women in the third trimester of pregnancy through the postpartum period. The relative infrequency of PPP presents both clinical and pathologic challenges in the diagnosis and management of this condition. We report a case of a woman who presented at 32 weeks' gestation with a generalized rash demonstrating clinicopathologic features consistent with PPP.

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Primary cutaneous gamma/delta T-cell lymphoma (PCγδTCL) is a rare form of cutaneous lymphoma characterized by abnormal clonal proliferation of mature, activated gamma-delta T cells expressing the γδ heterodimer of the T-cell receptor (TCR). As an entity, PCγδTCL has recently undergone diagnostic revision since its introduction in the 2008 WHO classification of cutaneous lymphomas and confirmedin 2016. Nonetheless, diagnosis remains difficult both clinically and histologically, given its broad range of clinical manifestations and immunohistochemical phenotypes.

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