Skin Tags and Its Association With Systemic Illnesses

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Skin tags (Acrochordons) are very common benign tumor of the skin. It is seen in 25% of population, particularly in women in advancing age and in pregnancy. Skin tags are small, soft, pedunculated and papillomatous lesions usually seen on eyelids and major flexures of the body. Skin tags are entirely asymptomatic and diagnosis is unmistakable. Many cutaneous lesions have been well established to be associated with some systemic diseases and this has been proven beneficial as it helps in early diagnosis. METHODS: A total no of 50 patients with skin tags were included in the study. Detailed history, thorough physical examination and relevant investigations were done to confirm the systemic manifestations when present. RESULTS: In the study the patient's age ranged from 18-65 yrs with female -male ratio 1:1.17. The number of skin tags among the 50 patients ranged from 1-74. In our study we found that 74% of our patients with skin tags were either obese or overweight, 24% of our patients fulfilled the criteria of metabolic syndrome,