Details
34 year-old patient, immunocompromised, with multiple, "severe" lesions involving the vulva and mons pubis.
Molluscum contagiosum is a poxvirus infection affecting skin and mucous membranes. The causal agent (poxvirus) is spread through direct contact and shared articles (e.g. towels), which often involves sexual contact in adults. The clinical history of the patient being immunocompromised likely contributed to the "severity" of the presentation.
The lesion has a fairly characteristic gross appearance of "pearly", dome-shaped papules with a dimpled centre. The central crater can be appreciated microscopically, although one may not receive the right cut. Microscopically, the more notable finding is the presence of "molluscum bodies" - which are the prominent, large, round, eosinophilic to basophilic cytoplasmic inclusions seen in this specimen.
Similar findings elsewhere on the skin are described in LMP19511 (see Related Content).