Benign and malignant vulvar pathology. A 15 year retrospective study

Abstract

Background: Vulva can be seat of benign, malignant and non-neoplastic pathologies. Statistics in literature are limited.

Objective: To determine vulvar lesions prevalence biopsied at vulvar pathology consultation at Dermatology Unit of Hospital Lagomaggiore from Mendoza, and describe its clinical and histological characteristics.

Design: A descriptive, retrospective, observational and cross-sectional study was performed.

Materials and methods: We collected data from patients evaluated and biopsied in vulvar pathology consultation at Dermatology Unit of Hospital Lagomaggiore from Mendoza, since July 2002 to July 2017. We studied variables such as age, lesion location, evolution time, histological diagnosis and clinical-pathological correlation.

Results: A total of 2671 patients were included and 214 lesions were submitted to biopsy (8.01%). The mean age was 55.64 years (± 14.44 years). Inflammatory pathology was the most frequently (n = 72; 33.64%) and lichen sclerosus was the majority within it (n = 30; 41.67%). 90% of the patients were over 50 years old, with a higher risk of developing this condition than younger than 50 years (OR 4.37; p = 0.003). Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) represented 75.51% (n = 37) of malignant tumors. Patients older than 50 years showed an increased risk of invasive forms (OR 1.18; p = 0.03). 28.97% (n = 62) of the patients did not know evolution time of the lesion.

Conclusions: Frequency of vulvar dermatosis observed in our hospital coincides with the literature consulted, with a significant percentage of malignant and premalignant pathologies. We emphasize the impor-tance of vulvar region examination for early diagnosis and treatment.