Langerhans' cells of elderly patients with decubital ulcers.

An ultrastructural and morphometric study compared Langerhans' cells in sacral epidermis, 8-10 cm from the lesion of patients (mean age 70) with decubital ulcers, with those in the patients' own normal epidermis from the upper leg and with those in the epidermis from the upper leg of normal age-matched volunteers. The Langerhans' cell section area was significantly lower in patients' control leg epidermis (25.86 +/- 2.29 microns2) than in that from normal controls (35.74 +/- 3.76 microns2) or that from patients' sacral epidermis near the lesion (41.26 +/- 3.45). The number of Langerhans' cell granules was higher in control leg epidermis of patients (10.22 +/- 1.26) and was significantly higher in lesioned sacral epidermis (12.94 +/- 1.90) than in normal controls (6.97 +/- 1.47). In Langerhans' cells in patients' epidermis, formative stages of Langerhans' cell granules were observed. The findings may indicate that Langerhans' cells in patients' epidermis are in an active state.