Keloid in Iraqi patients: a clinicohistopathologic study

Keloid is a benign, well-demarcated area of fibrous tissue overgrowth that extends beyond the original defect. It is not an uncommon problem and is encountered frequently in daily practice.

To evaluate the different clinical and histopathologic aspects of this disease in Iraqi people.

Eighty-eight patients with keloid were clinically assessed. Histopathologic examination was performed in 16 patients. Giemsa stain was used in eight patients to assess the presence of mast cells.

There were 47 females and 41 males. The disease started in the second and third decades of life in 62 patients (70.5%). Itching was present in 46 patients (52.2%) and was more predominant in those with early lesions. Darier sign was elicited in 22 patients (25%); all of them had itching. The duration of the disease ranged from 0.33 to 20 years, with a mean of 5.4 years. Spontaneous keloid was found in 30 patients (34%). The lesions were mainly single (63.4%). All of these patients had lesions on the face and upper trunk in addition to involvement of extremities in five of them (16.7%). BCG keloid was observed in females only, and it showed downward gravitational extension in three of seven patients (43%). The histopathologic examination of keloid in 16 patients showed many interesting findings, such as the presence of hyperplastic epidermis in six specimens (37.5%), Grenz zone in 11 patients (68.75%), telangiectasia in 12 patients (75%), and pseudopodia extension of the growth to the adjacent tissues in half of the patients. Giemsa stain of eight specimens demonstrated the presence of mast cells in four patients (50%), more in biopsies that were taken from early lesions.