A 28-year-old Indian woman had asymptomatic, hypopigmented, non-scaly macules and patches on the upper extremities, abdomen, back, and buttocks for what she claimed was more than two decades. Apart from "eczema" in childhood, she declared her health to be good. A biopsy was performed of a hypopigmented lesion on the lower part of the back.

In addition to a sparse superficial perivascular infiltrate of lymphocytes, a few lymphocytes were present in the lower part of the surface epidermal spinous zone in company there with paltry spongiosis. The cornified layer was normal. The diagnosis of the original dermatopathologist was "mycosis fungoides, patch stage." We saw the patient herself in consultation at the request of her stepfather, a forensic pathologist. On the basis of correlation of the findings histopathologically with the features clinically, it became apparent that the diagnosis was pityriasis alba and not mycosis fungoides.