A Comprehensive Histopathological Study of Skin Appendageal Tumors

Background: The Skin Appendageal tumors are a heterogenous group of neoplasms with distinct histological features. The aim of this study is to determine the incidence, age, sex, site, histopathological features and the pattern of differentiation of the appendageal tumors analogous to hair follicles, sebaceous, eccrine and apocrine glands. Materials and methods : This is a retrospective study done in a tertiary care hospital in South India that includes 52 cases of skin appendageal tumors reported at the Department of Pathology, Government Kilpauk Medical College, Chennai, over a period of three years. Results : During the three year period of this study, a total of 1532 skin biopsies were reported, of which 52 cases were skin appendageal tumors(3.4%).Benign tumors were 50(96.2%) and malignant were 2(3.8%).The mean age of presentation was 38.2 years. The male:female ratio was 1:1.6. The tumors were predominant in females 32(61.5%) in comparison to males 20 cases(38.5%). The eccrine tumors constituted 21(40.4%) and thus were the most common , followed by tumors of hair follicular differentiation 17(32.7%). The commonest site was face in 20 cases(38.4%), followed by scalp in 15 cases(28.8%). The common clinical presentation was nodular and papular lesions. The commonest lesion was pilomatrixoma 13(25%), followed by nodular hidradenoma 9 cases (17.3%) Conclusion : The incidence of skin appendageal tumors in our study is 3.4% and thus they are relatively uncommon. Their clinical diagnosis is difficult as many appendageal tumors have similar clinical presentation and hence histopathology is mandatory and gold standard for diagnosis. Benign skin appendageal tumors are more common than the malignant tumors, which are seen in elderly patients.