The Reemergence of Measles

Objectives: Present-day pathologists may be unfamiliar with the histopathologic features of measles, which is a reemerging disease. Awareness of these features may enable early diagnosis of measles in unsuspected cases, including those with an atypical presentation. Using archived tissue samples from historic patients, a unique source of histopathologic information about measles and other reemerging infectious diseases, we performed a comprehensive analysis of the histopathologic features of measles seen in commonly infected tissues during prodrome, active, and late phases of the disease.

Methods: Subspecialty pathologists analyzed H&E-stained slides of specimens from 89 patients accessioned from 1919 to 1998 and correlated the histopathologic findings with clinical data.

Results: Measles caused acute and chronic histopathologic changes, especially in the respiratory, lymphoid (including appendix and tonsils), and central nervous systems. Bacterial infections in lung and other organs contributed significantly to adverse outcomes, especially in immunocompromised patients.

Conclusions: Certain histopathologic features, especially Warthin-Finkeldey cells and multinucleated giant cells without inclusions, allow pathologists to diagnose or suggest the diagnosis of measles in unsuspected cases.