Coexistence of Pemphigus vulgaris and herpes simplex virus infection in oral mucosa diagnosed by cytology, immunohistochemistry, and polymerase chain reaction

Abstract

A case of Pemphigus vulgaris concurrent with herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection in a 53-yr-old female is described, in which the diagnosis was based on oral scraping cytology. Two populations of abnormal cells were identified in the oral smear. One abnormal cell population was characterized by the presence of numerous single cells and sheets and smaller aggregates of loosely cohesive epithelial cells that appeared to have only a few points of intercellular attachment. A second population of abnormal cells showed characteristic signs of HSV infections such as ground-glass nuclear appearance and multinucleation. Subsequently, diagnosis of HSV infections based on polymerase chain reaction was applied to identify the specific DNA for HSV type 1 in the Papanicolaou specimens. To our knowledge, this is the first case in which the coexistence of Pemphigus vulgaris and HSV infection in the oral mucosa was established by cytologic diagnosis. This is discussed in view of our recent experience with this unusual oral lesion.