Epidemiological, Clinical and Therapeutic Profile of Syringomas at a Tertiary Centre, in Southern Nigeria

Background: Syringomas are benign skin tumours that occur commonly amongst women and are of cosmetic importance because they commonly affect the face. This can affect the quality of life and social interactions with others. They are commonly managed medically but could also require surgical intervention. Few studies have been carried out on syringoma worldwide and the exact prevalence in the different countries or continents has not yet been determined from available published data, which are mainly hospital based studies. In Nigeria, only few case reports have focused on syringoma hence the essence of this study.

Objective: This study aimed to assess the clinical and epidemiological findings of patients with syringoma attended at a tertiary centre in Southern Nigeria.

Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional and descriptive analysis of patients with syringoma attended within a ten year period at the Dermatologic Outpatient Clinic (DOPC) of the University of Port-Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH) was carried out. Clinical and epidemiological findings were considered and analysed with IBM corp Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 20. The level of significance was set at 0.05.”

Results: Thirty four individuals were included. The average incidence of syringoma detected over the ten year period was approximately 0.03%. The F: M ratio was 2:1 with no statistical significance across age and sex. The mean age of onset was 27.312.±7 ranging from 5 to 62 years. The average duration of lesions prior to the diagnosis was 4.9 years; ranging from 3 months to 15 years. The standard deviation (SD) at 95% Confidence interval (CI) was 4.95 ± 1.68. Multiple sites were noticed in about 14.7%(5) of cases while a single site was observed in 29.4 % (10) of cases, and a majority 55.9%, (19) had no specified documented sites. They were predominantly seen around the eyelids and on the face. About 90% of cases documented were normochromic while the rest were hyperpigmented.

Conclusion: Syringoma though benign, is not a common dermatosis among this population. Patients can present at the skin clinic for cosmetic reasons or associated complications such as pruritus and superimposed infection.