Cutaneous cysts: a clinicopathologic analysis of 2,438 cases.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Benign cutaneous lesions, so-called cysts, are frequently seen in clinics and might evoke cosmetic and psychosocial concerns. AIM: This study aimed to demonstrate the clinicopathologic findings of these lesions and also the importance of histological evaluation for prevention of misdiagnosing a benign-appearing malignant lesion. METHODS: A descriptive study was conducted of 2,438 cases who had a diagnosis of cyst confirmed with pathology. The data of patients over the 6-year period between 2011 and 2017, including gender, age, location, prevalence, complications, and microscopic evaluation, were gathered. RESULTS: From a total of 2,438 records with a clinical diagnosis of mucocutaneous cyst, 2077 had the pathologic diagnosis of cysts. They consisted of 910 women (43.8%) and 1167 men (56.1%) with a mean age of 42. The most common mucocutaneous cysts were epidermal cyst 994 (47.8%) followed by trichilemmal cyst 495 (23.8%). In 479 (19.6%) records, the clinical diagnosis was not congruent with histopathological diagnosis including 45 malignant cases. Basal cell carcinoma in 22 (48.9%) was the most common one. CONCLUSIONS: This study reports on clinical characteristics of cutaneous cysts and the need for a decent diagnostic investigation, like histopathology, for achieving a reliable diagnosis regarding the benign mimicking malignant lesions, especially high risk ones.