ABSTRACT
Background:The skin is the largest organ of the body, comprising of epidermis, dermis and hypodermis. Thus, a wide range of diseases can develop from the skin ranging from infectious diseases to malignancy, some of which may present as non-healing ulcers. Skin biopsy forms the fundamental basis for differentiation of similar looking lesions, thus helping the pathologists to make a definitive diagnosis and more so to the clinician for better management of patients. The objective was to study the histopathological spectrum of chronic non healing ulcers of skin for proper management and treatment.Methods:This was a hospital-based study which was conducted in SKIMS,Soura, a tertiary care hospital of Kashmir valley for a period of 1year extending from January 2018 to December 2018. All the patients who presented with the complaint of non-healing ulcer for more than 4 to 6 weeks were subjected to skin biopsy and histopathological examination.Results:A total of 260 biopsies were examined. Out of 260 patients 146 were males and 114 were females. Ninety out of 260cases (34.61%) and 170 (65.39%) were diagnosed as malignant and benign ulcers respectively.Diabetic ulcer was the second most common cause ofnon-healing ulcers followed by bacterial infections and tuberculosis. Squamous cell carcinoma was the most common neoplastic pathology. Conclusions: It was concluded from the study that non-healing skin ulcers can be encountered at any age in daily medical practice
ABSTRACT
Introduction Skin cancer is ranked the ninth commonest cancer among males and tenth among females in Malaysia. Objectives To review the pattern of skin cancers at University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC). Methods This is a retrospective review of all histo-pathological confirmed skin cancers at UMMC from 2004 till 2010. Results Among the 155 patients reviewed, basal cell carcinoma (BCC) was the commonest skin cancer (44.5%), followed by squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) (27.1%) and malignant melanoma (MM) (11.6%). The nodulo-ulcerative subtype made up 46% of all BCC while 50% of MM was of acral lentiginous subtype. Patients with BCC were significantly older (>60 years old), (p=0.003). A majority of skin cancers were found on the head and neck. Conclusion BCC was the commonest skin cancer, with significantly older patients and located mainly on head and neck. MM was the least common skin cancer but associated with the highest mortality.