A clinico-histopathological study of appendageal skin tumors, affecting head and neck region in patients attending the dermatology opd of a tertiary care centre in eastern India.

Introduction: Appendageal skin tumors (ATs) are those neoplasms that differentiate toward/arise from pilosebaceous apparatus, apocrine, or eccrine sweat glands. Pilosebaceous apparatus are concentrated in head-neck area; thus it is expected that ATs would account for a major fraction of skin tumors over this site.

Aims: This study aims at finding the clinico-histopathological correlation in cases ATs in head-neck region among attendees of dermatology OPD.

Materials And Methods: Cross-sectional descriptive study, conducted over 1-year period. All clinically suspected cases of ATs were evaluated and subjected to histopathological examination. Confirmed cases of ATs were finally analyzed.

Results: Among twenty eight thousand four hundred sixty six new patients attending OPD, 30 suspected cases of ATs underwent histopathological examination. Histopathology was confirmatory in only 23 (76.67%) cases. Out of 23, syringoma were found in 9 (39.13%), trichoepithelioma in 6 (26.08%), syringocystadenoma papilliferum in 4 (17.39%), sebaceous gland hyperplasia in 3 (13.04%), and vellous hair cyst in 1 (4.34 %). Females (65.21%) outnumbered males (34.78%) in our study population.

Conclusions: ATs of head-neck region constitute a meager population (0.08%) attending dermatology OPD, and were more common among young population. Often it is over-diagnosed clinically thus necessitating histological confirmation. Young females being cosmetically more conscious are more eager to seek advice for this condition.