Poroma: A Retrospective Series of 80 Patients at a Tertiary Care Hospital

Poroma is a benign, exclusively cutaneous, adnexal tumor with a predilection for palmoplantar skin.

To analyze the clinical characteristics of poroma in our population.

Retrospective study of patients diagnosed with poroma between 2002 and 2021. We conducted a chart review to record age; sex; number, location, and diameter of lesions; time since onset; clinical characteristics; suspected clinical diagnosis; resection margin status; recurrences; and follow-up duration. Categorical variables were compared using the Fisher exact test. Continuous variables were compared using the t test or the Mann-Whitney U test depending on whether they were normally or nonnormally distributed.

We studied 80 patients (31 women and 49 men) with a median (interquartile range [IQR]) age of 65.5 (29) years. Median time since onset of poroma was 12 (21) months. Median lesion diameter was 8(7)mm, and none of the patients had multiple lesions. The lesions were located on the head and neck in 13 cases, the trunk in 13, the upper extremities in 11, and the lower extremities in 43. Twenty-three lesions (28.8%) were located at acral sites (5 on the palms and 18 on the soles). Women were more likely to have scalp lesions (P=.041). Acral lesions were more likely to be erythematous (P=.014). Five patients experienced local recurrence.

Although poromas are particularly common in acral locations (especially the feet), most of the lesions in our series (71.3%) were located elsewhere. Acral lesions were more likely to show the classic clinical features of erythema and exophytic growth.