A 95-year-old woman touches a pot of boiling water. Within 2 hours, she has marked erythema of the skin of the fingers of her hand, and small blisters appear on the finger pads. This has led to which one of the following inflammatory responses?

Serous inflammation is the mildest form of acute inflammation. A blister is a good example of serous inflammation. It is associated primarily with exudation of fluid into the sub-corneal or subepidermal space. Because the injury is mild, the fluid is relatively protein-poor. A protein-rich exudate results in fibrin accumulation. Granulomatous inflammation is characterized by collections of transformed macrophages called epithelioid cells. Acute inflammatory cells, mainly neutrophils, exuded into a body cavity or space form a purulent (suppurative) exudate, typically associated with liquefactive necrosis. Loss of the epithelium leads to ulceration.