|
Medical Definition of Asteroid body
1. An eosinophilic inclusion resembling a star with delicate radiating lines, occurring in a vacuolated area of cytoplasm of a multinucleated giant cell; especially frequent in sarcoidosis, but occurs also in other granulomas, a structure that is characteristic of sporotrichosis when found in the skin or secondary lesions of this mycosis; in tissue, it surrounds the 3-to 5-um in diameter ovoid yeast of Sporothrix schenkii. (05 Mar 2000)