Shadows and Ghosts of the Hair Matrix: Pilomatrixoma

Abstract

The neoplasm, established as the “Calcifying Epithelioma of Malherbe”, were scripted as the lesions commencing from the sebaceous glands in the late 19th century (1880) by Malherbe and associates [1]. The histology comprises of the islands of epithelial cells and shadow cells, illustrated in the early 20th century (1922) [2]. “Pilomatrixoma” as a terminology was popularized in the late 20th century (1961) [3] and designated the neoplasm as a derivative of the hair matrix, thus circumventing the term “epithelioma”, which may connote a malignancy. The enzyme histochemistry and ultra-structural analysis of the lesion was also computed in the late 20th century (1966) [4], confirming that it originated from the primitive basal cells of the epidermis which differentiate towards the hair matrix.