Morphologic patterns of vascular tumors in Benin City, Nigeria: A 12 year retrospective review

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the frequency, morphological patterns, age and sex and site distribution of vascular tumor in Benin-City, Nigeria. Materials and Methods: The study was a 12 year retrospective analysis of all histologically confirmed vascular tumors seen over a 12 year period at the Pathology Department, University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin-City, Nigeria. Results: A total of 162 vascular tumors representing 18.6% of all soft-tissue tumors were analyzed. 136 (83.9%) were benign, 24 (14.7%) were malignant while 2 (1.3%) cases were of borderline malignancy. Hemangioma was the most frequently encountered tumor in this series constituting 71% of all vascular tumors and 84.6% of the benign tumors. Kaposi′s sarcoma (KS) was the most common malignant vascular tumor comprising 14.8% of these lesions. The majority of these tumors were located in the head and neck region (39.5%) followed by the upper and lower extremities accounting for 16.7% and 14.2% respectively. Conclusion: This study has shown that hemangioma is the most predominant vascular tumor and that KS is the most common malignant vascular tumor in this setting. This is similar to previous reports from other researchers locally and internationally.