PSEUDOEPITHELIOMATOUS HYPERPLASIA MISTAKEN FOR CANCER AFTER DELAYED RECONSTRUCTION

Pseudoepitheliomatous hyperplasia (PEH) arises in areas of chronic inf lammation and can be mistaken for squamous cell carcinoma, leading to unnecessary removal of more tissue. We present a study of 21 patients having delayed reconstruction of defects left by Mobs micrographic sur gery (MMS) to remove facial skin cancers. Reconstruction was done at a n average of 6 days after MMS. Four of these 21 patients (19%) had PEH in the wound margins. Presence of PEH did not correlate with age, sex , delay in reconstruction, frequency of wound care, size or location o f the defect, type of tumor, or smoking status. During an average 24-m onth follow-up, none of these four patients had tumor recurrence, sugg esting that the benign diagnosis of PEH was correct. We detail the his tologic features of PEH, and describe techniques for minimizing confus ion with squamous cell carcinoma.