Histopathological spectrum of non-neoplastic skin lesions seen in a dermatology clinic in a secondary health centre in Benin city

Abstract

Background: The skin is the largest organ system in the body and serve both defensive (immune) and cosmetic purposes. Non-neoplastic skin lesions affect the psychosocial well-being of patients. This study aims to review the prevalence of non-neoplastic dermatoses of skin biopsies done in a secondary healthcare facility. Materials and Methods: We analysed non-neoplastic skin biopsies from January 2021 to December 2022 as seen in the Department of Histopathology of our institution. The diseases were then further classified into eczema/dermatitis, papulosquamous disorders, pigmentation disorders, disorders of skin appendages, infections/infestations and connective tissue disorders using the International Classification of Diseases-10 classification. Results: There is a wide-spectrum of non-neoplastic skin diseases diagnosed in our environment. There were 236 cases of non-neoplastic skin diseases with histological diagnosis over the study period. The modal age group was 20–29 years. The three most common histological categories were papulosquamous disease (38.1%), followed by eczema/dermatitis (18.2%) and infectious dermatoses (13.6%). The most common papulosquamous disease was psoriasis/psoriasiform dermatitis at 41.2%. There were no parasitic agents in the infections/infestations category; however, fungal dermatoses accounted for 74% of dermatoses in this category. Conclusions: This study has shown the increasing frequency of non-infectious skin diseases in our environment. Psoriasis/psoriasiform reaction pattern is an important disease in our environment. Dermatologists and pathologists should pay attention to the changing trends of non-neoplastic skin lesions.