Congenital cutaneous fibropapillomatosis with no evidence of papillomavirus infection in a piglet

Abstract

Multiple yellowish-white, cauliflower-like mass lesions on the skin of the head and back in a 4-month-old piglet were pathologically examined. These lesions had developed before the weaning period. Histologically, the cutaneous neoplasms were characterized by papillary outgrowth of connective tissue covered by thick epidermis. Hyperplasia of the epidermis was corresponded with proliferation of capillaries, lympho-plasmacytic infiltration, and proliferation of fibroblasts in the dermal stroma. There were no inclusion bodies and significant degeneration in the keratinocytes. Papillomavirus antigen and DNA were not detected in these lesions by immunohistochemistry and polymerase chain reaction, respectively. Accordingly, the fibropapillomatosis of the present case might be hamartomatous rather than infectious.