Epidermal Cyst on the Head of a Leopard Gecko (Eublepharis macularius)
An estimated 6-yr-old female leopard gecko (Eublepharis macularius) presented with a raised spherical mass on the head. Grossly, the skin overlying the mass was smooth, with a focal area of ulceration. Histologically, the dermis was expanded by a well-demarcated, poorly cellular single expansile cyst. The cyst was lined by stratified squamous epithelium and was filled with an accumulation of tightly packed lamellar keratin with regular folding, resembling keratinization of the epidermis. Neither cellular nor nuclear atypia was observed, and there were no mitotic figures in the lining epithelium. The histopathological findings were consistent with an epidermal cyst. To the best of the authors' knowledge, an epidermal cyst in the dermis of the head has not been documented previously in a captive leopard gecko.Abstract
Mass on the head of a leopard gecko (Eublepharis macularius). (A) Raised spherical mass on the head. The skin overlying the mass is smooth, with a focal area of ulceration. Bar = 1.0 cm. (B) Cross section of the mass is gray with a concentric lamellar pattern. Bar = 0.5 cm. (C) Poorly cellular expansile cyst formation in the dermis. The cyst is lined by thin stratified squamous epithelium and is filled with an accumulation of tightly packed, lamellar keratin in the dermis. H&E stain. Bar = 500 µm. (D) Higher magnification of image in (C). The cyst is lined by thin stratified squamous epithelium (asterisk). H&E stain. Bar = 100 µm.
