“Troublesome tumors” of the skin: Spectrum of skin adnexal tumors at a tertiary care center in Malwa region

Abstract

Background: Skin adnexal tumors are uncommon in routine practice and usually cause diagnostic problems because of their rarity. Objective: The aim of this study was to find the prevalence of skin adnexal tumors among all the skin biopsies received at the Department of Pathology at M.Y. Hospital, Indore. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted prospectively and retrospectively and records and slides prepared between May 2014 and December 2017 at the Pathology Department, M.Y. Hospital were studied. All the skin biopsies received during this period was evaluated, and diagnosis was made on hematoxylin and eosin stained slides of the processed tissue received. The lesions were then characterized according to the WHO histological classification of appendageal tumors. Results: Of 560 skin biopsies received, during the 3.5 years period, only 47 (7.2%) cases were diagnosed as skin adnexal tumors on histopathology. 42 cases (89.36%) were found to be benign, while 5 cases (10.63%) were malignant. Pilar tumors (48.93%) were the most common tumors encountered, followed by eccrine/apocrine tumors (29.79%) and sebaceous tumors (21.28%). Tumors were observed more commonly in females with 21–40 years being the predominant age group. Most tumors were localized to head and neck region (57.4%), followed by trunk and upper limb (17.02%), abdomen and lower limb (17.02%), and inguinal region (8.5%). Conclusion: The overall prevalence of skin adnexal tumors was found to be very low with a benign morphology in most cases. Often, clinically misdiagnosed due to rarity of occurrence; a thorough histopathological assessment is mandatory for accurate diagnosis.