Histopathological Examination Results and Treatment Modalities of Patients After Pigmented Lesion Excision For Cosmetic Reasons

Abstract

Objective: It is very important to recognize the pigmented skin lesions and accompanied malignant skin diseases by physicians working in primary health care facilities. The successful removal of pigmented lesions, especially in the head and neck region, is the general reason for patients admitted to aesthetic surgery clinics. In this study, histopathological diagnoses of the lesions removed for aesthetic purposes are examined retrospectively and treatment management is reviewed. Material and Methods: A total of 85 patients who wanted to remove their pigmented lesions for only aesthetic purposes between November 2018 and November 2019 were included in this study. All patients were operated by the same surgeon. After excisional biopsy, all lesions were examined histopathologically. Results: 129 lesions were removed from 85 patients. 37 (43.5%) of the patients were male; 48 (56.5%) were women. The mean age of the patients was 38.9 (14-94 years). The average size of the lesions was 1.15 cm² (0.3-5.3 cm²). After histopathological examination, 11 different types of pigmented lesion pathology were obtained. Intradermal nevus was the most common pathology result among the lesions (38%). This was followed by Seborrheic keratosis (24%) and basal cell carcinoma (22%), respectively. The head and neck region was the most common location of all lesions that was removed. Incompatibility between the preliminary diagnosis and the histopathological results of the lesions was observed in 5 patients. Conclusion: Patients consult with a wide range of skin lesions in our clinical practice. Although the examination with the naked eye does not always give correct results at the first application of the patient, knowing the ABCDE criteria is critical at this stage. Considering the patients who refers for only cosmetic purposes are included in our study, we want to emphasize that one fourth of patients are diagnosed with malignant skin cancer and the education of people with skin cancer should be expanded as a public health problem.