Childhood pilomatrixoma: Case series with a comprehensive literature review

Abstract

Pilomatrixoma is a benign skin tumor that develops from the hair follicle matrix cells. It represents around 0.1% of all skin tumors. Although pilomatrixomas are well-recognized lesions, clinically they are frequently misdiagnosed primarily due to a lack of awareness by clinicians. We have retrospectively reviewed medical records of six children with a histologically diagnosed pilomatrixoma between January 2018 and April 2023. There were four boys and two girls with median age at presentation of 8 (range 4 to 12) years. The common complaint was of a painless swelling that was immobile and fixed to the overlying skin. All but one patient had solitary lesions and most of them were in the head and neck region. The size of the lesions ranged from 0.8 to 1.5 cm. All the patients had their lesions excised completely and sent for histopathological examination which confirmed the diagnosis of a pilomatrixoma. After a median follow-up of 16 (range 12 to 47) months, none of our patients developed any recurrence or malignancy. Pilomatrixoma is an uncommon benign skin tumor, sometimes with atypical forms, with no tumor-specific diagnostic feature except for a careful histopathological examination. It is easily excisable and recurrence is rare.