Spongiotic This is the second Epidermal reaction pattern and is the hallmark of the Eczemas, especially the acute forms such as pompholyx and weeping atopic or contact eczema but also to a lesser degree in discoid eczema and lichen simplex chronicus.
Spongiosis refers to separation of the keratinocytes in the epidermis by fluid between them highlighting the desmosomes or spines in the spinous layer that hold the cells together. If some of these intercellular bonds break down you get little collections of fluid between the cells in the epidermis and these are called vesicles.(remember pompholyx eczema).
