Cat-scratch disease skin test. Studies of specificity and histopathologic features

Cat–scratch Disease: A Review of the Literature

“…Despite the unknown etiology, a clinical diagnosis of CSD was based on the presence of three of four criteria: (a) history of animal (usually cat) contact, with the presence of a scratch or an inoculation lesion of the skin, eye, or mucous membrane (14); (b) a positive CSD skin test; (c) regional lymphadenopathy with normal laboratory results for other causes of lymphadenopathy; and (d) characteristic histopathologic changes consistent with CSD in a biopsied lymph node (15), as described by Campbell (16). It should be noted that similar histopathologic changes may also be found in biopsies of inoculation lesions of the skin or conjunctiva (17), and sites of intradermal CSD skin test (17,18).…”

The Case for the Case Report

“…However, an expert on CSD, after hearing the details of our case, including the child's intimate contact with a kitten and despite the absence of adenopathy, sent us the then-only diagnostic test for CSD, a skin test (Hanger Rose test) that one applied by an intradermal injection. 2 Sure enough, the test was positive. To add additional certainty to the diagnosis, we sent the tissue from a granulomatous lesion in our patient's liver to Colonel Douglas Wear, MD.…”