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Neoplastic skin lesions of the scalp in children: A retrospective study of 265 cases in Taiwan

  • Clinical Report
  • Published:
European Journal of Dermatology

Abstract

Background

The preferential occurrence of certain skin neoplasms on the scalp of children raises concerns from their parents and warrants special diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.

Objective

To explore the demographic and clinical characteristics of scalp neoplasms in the pediatric population, with attention to malignant tumors and systemic syndromes.

Methods

Scalp neoplasms in patients aged 12 years or younger were retrospectively collected in 1990–2010 from two tertiary referral centers in Taiwan.

Results

A total of 267 scalp neoplasms in 265 pediatric patients were recruited. Among the 209 neoplasms with a histopathological diagnosis, nevus sebaceus was the most common (67.9%), followed by melanocytic nevus (6.2%) and juvenile xanthogranuloma (6.2%). Most of the scalp neoplasms (77.9%) were seen at birth or before 1 month of age. Infantile hemangioma was clinically diagnosed without histology in 41.4% of cases. Malignant scalp tumors were identified in two patients (0.95%), with one basal cell carcinoma and one precursor B-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma, respectively. Scalp neoplasms in association with systemic syndromes were found in two cases. One had neurofibromatosis type I with juvenile xanthogranuloma and the other basal cell nevus syndrome with basal cell carcinoma.

Conclusions

Most pediatric scalp neoplasms in our study were hamartomas or teratomas. Malignant scalp tumors and malignant transformation of nevus sebaceus were rare. A detailed medical history taking and complete physical examinations are needed to exclude possible associations with systemic syndromes or malignancies.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Dermatology, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan

    Chao-Chun Yang & Yi-An Chen

  2. Institute of Clinical Medicine, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan

    Chao-Chun Yang

  3. Department of Dermatology, Cathay General Hospital, T, Taiwan

    Yi-An Chen

  4. Department of Dermatology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital-Linkou Medical Center, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Taoyuan, Taiwan

    Yueh-Lin Tsai & I.-Hsin Shih

  5. Department of Dermatology and Allergy, Technische Universität München, Biedersteiner Strasse 29, 80802, Munich, Germany

    WenChieh Chen

Authors
  1. Chao-Chun Yang
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  2. Yi-An Chen
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  3. Yueh-Lin Tsai
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  4. I.-Hsin Shih
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  5. WenChieh Chen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to WenChieh Chen.

Additional information

C-C Yang and Y-A Chen contributed equally to this work.

Part of the work was presented at the 9th European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology Spring Symposium, Verona, Italy, June 6–10, 2012.

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Cite this article

Yang, CC., Chen, YA., Tsai, YL. et al. Neoplastic skin lesions of the scalp in children: A retrospective study of 265 cases in Taiwan. Eur J Dermatol 24, 70–75 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1684/ejd.2013.2216

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1684/ejd.2013.2216

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