Clinicopathological features of untreated fibrous hamartoma of infancy.
OBJECTIVE
To study the clinicopathological features of fibrous hamartoma of infancy in Nigerian children.


METHODS
Six children aged between 6 months and 10 years were studied. All specimens were stained with haemotoxylin and eosin and examined routinely. The children were followed up for between one and three years.


RESULTS
In four of the children lesions were present at birth; in the other two they appeared by the age of 1 year. Some of the children had had the lesion for between three and 10 years. All lesions were located in the subcutis. They were solitary and varied in size and shape. They had grown rapidly up to the age of 5, after which growth decelerated, but did not stop or regress. The younger the child the less clearly demarcated was the tumour on the deep surface. In the older children the capsule was more developed.


CONCLUSIONS
Fibrous hamartoma of infancy is rare, but it is important for clinicians to know that it is benign and readily amenable to treatment.
Efem
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University Department of Surgery, University Teaching Hospital, Calabar Cross River State, Nigeria.
Ekpo
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D001365:Axilla / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006222:Hamartoma / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009549:Nigeria; D012540:Scapula / Q000473:pathology; D013997:Time Factors