Maximizing the clinical utility of descriptive lymphoid pathology reporting.

Dermatopathology reporting can be both exact and inexact. Exact reporting represents the use of terminology that corresponds to a disease sui generis, such as discoid lupus erythematosus or disseminated superficial porokeratosis. Inexact reporting can vary greatly amongst various practitioners-both in terms of the exact semantics used and also stylistically-and can be used habitually by pathologists as a means to provide cover for diagnostic uncertainty or inexperience. This article explores the use of descriptive (inexact) reporting as it applies to cutaneous lymphoma and its differential diagnosis. A collection of practical descriptive diagnostic categories that will be of use to both dermatologists and dermatopathologists is included.