Seborrheic Keratosis With Sebaceous Differentiation, a Series of 8 Cases and Critical Review of the Literature

• Published in: The American journal of dermatopathology Vol. 43; no. 11; p. 801
• Main Authors: Hayani, Kinan M, Zelger, Bettina G, Kind, Peter, Zelger, Bernhard
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.11.2021
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Cell Differentiation; Diagnosis, Differential; Female; Humans; Keratosis, Seborrheic - diagnosis; Keratosis, Seborrheic - pathology; Male; Middle Aged; Muir-Torre Syndrome - diagnosis; Retrospective Studies; Sebaceous Glands - pathology
• ISSN: 1533-0311
• DOI: 10.1097/DAD.0000000000001948

Seborrheic keratosis with sebaceous differentiation (SKSD) can sometimes raise uncertainty, confuse with other even malignant entities, and lead to overestimation of this harmless variant. Retrospective analysis of the cases diagnosed as SKSD and a search of the pertaining literature were conducted. Eight cases of SKSD were found. Histologically, these lesions show a flat to plate-like outgrowth of basaloid cells with solitary or clustered sebocytes at the bottom of the rete ridges and variable sebaceous ducts with luminal cuticula. The lesions differed in the outgrowth subpattern: flat/macular, acanthotic, or reticulated. No association was found with Muir-Torre syndrome, and no malignant transformation was seen in these lesions. Literature search revealed confusingly designated lesions that simply represented SKSD. SKSD can show several growth patterns as classic SK. This entity is either underreported or even underrecognized. This entity is benign; however, according to the literature, exclusion of an associating Muir-Torre syndrome should be warranted. The published literature about this lesion is confusing and inconsistent. We suggest the avoidance of confusing terminology and particularly the terminus epithelioma for such lesions.