Three-dimensional reconstruction in dermatopathology--a personal computer-based system.

The purpose of the present study was to build a system for three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of dermatopathological specimens using an easily available personal computer and graphic programs. A stereogram was generated by projecting thirty serial sections transferred into a Macintosh computer. The quality of the 3D images obtained by this method were high enough to show the net-like structure of rete ridges in normal epidermis, the antler-like branching of dermal papillae in seborrheic keratosis, and the bulge-like proliferation of tumor nests in basal cell carcinoma. This method was also helpful to assess oblique sectioning of the specimens, which sometimes produces a strange appearance in dermatopathological sections. The method presented here would not only help to better understand the 3D structures of dermatopathological specimens, but could also be used to examine 3D patterns of tumor invasion, which may contribute to the differential diagnosis of malignant tumors.