(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 also seen in other granulomas; (2) 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-mcm in diameter ovoid yeast of Sporothrix schenckii.
