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Molluscum%20contagiosum Diagnosis
Physical Examination
- Usually asymptomatic, smooth, flesh-colored, firm round papules w/ central umbilication where cheesy materials can be expressed
- Large lesions may present as polypoid growths w/ a stalk-like base
- Lesion size is usually 2-6 mm in diameter
- Lesions may be grouped together in a small area (often in linear arrangement-pseudo-Kobner) or may become more widely spread
- 10% of patients develop eczematous dermatitis which resolves as the infection clears
- May be pruritic & inflammed in the presence of pyogenic infection or in immune-suppressed state
- Papules may occur anywhere in the body w/ predilection to the face, neck, axilla, cubital creases, thighs & genitoanal region but the palms & soles spared
- Conjunctivitis & corneal lesions may be part of the complications
Laboratory Tests
Laboratory Findings
- Fluorescent antibody technique identifies MCV antigen
- May be used if clinical presentation is not diagnostic
- Central core of lesion can be expressed, smeared & stained on a slide to demonstrate brick-like inclusion bodies
- Skin punch biopsy findings of eosinophilic viral inclusion bodies (molluscum bodies/Henderson-Paterson bodies) on the stratum corneum
