Histopathological Study of Lesions of Umbilicus

Abstract

Background: A variety of lesions either congenital or acquired affect the umbilicus. We present histopathological study of 55 umbilical lesions over a period of 40 months. Material and Methods: Histopathological features of 55 umbilical lesions were analysed. Data of patients was obtained from the hospital records. There were 45 adult and 10 pediatric patients. Results The most common lesion was umbilical hernia constituting 43 cases. We had six cases of vitellointestinal duct remnants (VDR), two cases each of umbilical granuloma and tuberculosis and one case each of patent urachus and epidermal cyst. Conclusion: Although rare, every lesion of the umbilicus needs histopathological examination since certain lesions like umbilical granuloma can be managed conservatively while others like VDR or umbilical hernia need surgical intervention. Also dormant tuberculosis can be diagnosed on histopathological examination of hernial sac.