Asteroid Bodies in Necrobiosis Lipoidica

Introduction

Asteroid bodies are seen not infrequently in dermatopathologic material. These bodies, which have also been called spiculated bodies, radial inclusions, and stellate inclusions in giant cells, have been reported in a variety of pathologic states, including leprosy,¹ cryptococcosis,² a probable case of Weber-Christian disease,³ dermoids, sebaceous cysts, paraffinomas, scars, tuberculosis,⁴ sarcoid,⁵ foreign-body granulomas, blastomycosis, various malignancies,⁶ granulomatosis disciformis chronica et progressiva,⁷ multiple myeloma,⁸ cavernous hemangioma, erythema induratum, lipoid pneumonia, diabetes mellitus, and pernicious anemia.⁹ A review of the literature does not reveal a case of necrobiosis lipoidica associated with asteroid bodies. They have been described in the lung, lymph nodes, liver, spleen, breast, uterus, ovaries, epididymis, and thyroid, as well as in the skin and subcutaneous tissue.⁹

Obviously, asteroid bodies are not characteristic of any disease. The pathologic alterations in which they are found