Clinical and pathological study of 328 cases of actinic keratosis in eastern chinese patients.

BACKGROUND

Actinic keratosis (AK) is prevalent and has been widely studied in fair-skinned populations. However, this is not the case in eastern countries. AK in Asians has not been so thoroughly investigated.

OBJECTIVES

To analyse the clinical and pathological features of a relatively large number of cases of AK diagnosed in older Chinese patients.

METHODS

Case histories of 328 patients with pathologically diagnosed AK were analysed retrospectively. Their demographic, clinical, pathological and treatment data were collected for analysis of associated factors.

RESULTS

Lesions were usually distributed on the face, especially the cheeks and temples. The most frequent pathological type was hypertrophic. Only 34% of the cases had been diagnosed correctly as AK before biopsy; many were mistaken for seborrhoeic keratosis.

CONCLUSIONS

Most patients were elderly females and there was a higher incidence of lesions on the face, and a lower incidence on the extremities and trunk; this finding contrasts with previous investigations in fair-skinned people.