Cutaneous Horns in an African Population

BACKGROUND: Cutaneous horns are hard, yellowish gray cornified skin growths. They are more common in white races and believed to be rare in Africans. There are few case reports of the lesion in African populations in the English literature. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This report documents six patients with this lesion seen over a fourteen month period. There were three males and three females, aged 22 to 62 (mean= 47). RESULTS: One lesion was on the scalp, the remaining on the extremities. The underlying pathologies were squamous cell carcinoma (1), Kaposi sarcoma (1), cutaneous myxoma (1), eccrine poroma (1) and the remaining two showed only chronic inflammatory changes with subepidermal lymphocytic and macrophage cell infiltrates. CONCLUSION: Unless cases are well documented, the perception of rarity in Africans will most likely persist. The risk of underling malignancy underscores the need for detailed evaluation and prompt management.