A morphological study of sweat and sebaceous gland tumours of skin adnexa

Background Aim: To determine the pattern of Sweat and sebaceous gland tumours of Skin Adnexa histologically. Material and Method: The study was conducted in the department of Pathology, Government Medical College Srinagar for a period of 24 months. It was an observational cross sectional study. Formalin fixed, paraffin embedded tissue sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin stain for histopathological analysis. Result: A total of 64 cases of sweat and sebaceous gland tumors were studied.59 were benign and 5 were malignant with male to female ratio of 0.93:1. Tumors with sweat differentiation are more common then sebaceous differentiation. The maximum number of benign cases were observed in 31-40 years of age group. The malignant tumours were found in the age group of 61 -70 years. Head and neckwas the most common site. Conclusion: Skin appendageal tumors are arelatively rare neoplasms. Cutaneous adnexal tumors are complex due to their diverse origin and varied histological appearance. Many of these have morphological overlap. In our study, sweat gland tumors were more common group. Although majorities of adnexal tumors are benign, malignant counterparts are rarely encountered, causing further diagnostic difficulties. By far the commonest variant in the present study was of eccrine sweat gland origin.