Background The presence of a dominant T-cell clone is an important diagnostic criterion in
cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (CTCLs) and in atypical T-cell cutaneous infiltrates.
Procedures based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) are the most sensitive to detect
clonality, but heteroduplex analysis is less sensitive than other methods such as denaturing
gradient gel electrophoresis. Objective To assess whether a gross hand microdissection of
the superficial (papillary) portion of the dermal infiltrate may improve the sensitivity of T-cell …