Abstract

To study the spectrum of skin adnexal tumours received at a tertiary care center and to determine the most common histopathological subtype, age, gender and anatomical distribution of these tumours. Study Design: Retrospective, descriptive, observational study. Place and duration of study: Department of Pathology, Saveetha Medical College, Chennai between May2015 – May2021. Methodology: All the cases diagnosed as skin adnexal tumours during the study period were included in the study and all other cases were excluded. The demographic and histopathological details were obtained from the histopathological records from the Department of Pathology of Saveetha Medical College and Hospital, Chennai. Results: Of the total 44,954 specimens received over a six-year period, 0.116% (52) were skin adnexal tumours out of which 90.39%(47) were benign and 9.61%(5) were malignant tumours. Majority of the cases, 69.22% (36) were found to occur in the age group of 21-60yrs. A slight female preponderance with a male:female ratio of 1:1.48 was observed. Among the benign tumours 40.39%(21) cases were of follicular differentiation and the most common benign lesion reported in our study, was nodular hidradenoma. Majority of the malignant tumours were of eccrine differentiation with one case each of malignant nodular hidradenoma, malignant chondroid syringoma and porocarcinoma being reported during the study period. Most of these cutaneous adnexal neoplasms were found to arise in the face followed by the scalp. Conclusion: Skin adnexal tumours are rare entities (incidence-0.2%) exhibiting a diverse spectrum of histomorphological features depending on their tissue of origin. They can be of follicular, sebaceous, apocrine or eccrine differentiation, originating from the multipotent stem cells present within the epidermis or its appendages. They pose a diagnostic challenge due to their low incidence rate and varied histopathological presentation. Hence, a detailed histopathological examination is imperative for their accurate diagnosis