title: Preauricular pilomatrixoma: a diagnostic pitfall.
abstract: Although pilomatrixomas are well known to dermatologists and dermatopathologists, surgeons encountering these lesions over the parotid gland frequently do not consider this benign neoplasm in the differential diagnosis. Presentation of a subcutaneous preauricular lesion, coupled with an erroneous cytologic diagnosis of malignancy, can potentially result in histologic "overdiagnosis" and more aggressive therapy than is required for these benign hair follicle neoplasms. A case is reported to illustrate this potential diagnostic trap, and a series of 206 cases collected at the University Hospital of Zurich from 1975 to 1987 is reviewed.
authors: Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland.
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Makek
authors: D J
authors: DJ
authors: Franklin
authors: U
authors: U
authors: Fisch
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004423:Ear; D005153:Facial Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010306:Parotid Gland; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*