PATTERN OF CUTANEOUS LESIONS IN PATIENTS WITH OCULOCUTANEOUS ALBINISM IN SOUTH-WESTERN NIGERIA.

Abstract

Background: Oculocutaneous albinism (OCA) is a heterogeneous genetic disorder with huge medical, social, psychological, occupational and economic burden. The cutaneous features and complications of albinism are variable, depending on the type of albinism.

Objective: The study objective was to describe the pattern of cutaneous lesions in people with oculocutaneous albinism.

Method: This was a cross-sectional study involving forty-eight individuals with oculocutaneous albinism resident in Osun, Oyo and Ondo states, South-Western Nigeria. The study participants had their skin examined by Dermatologists and histology was performed on biopsy specimen of skin lesions with unclear clinical diagnosis and those with suspicion for malignancy.

Results: The study participants were between ages 11 to 61 years (mean age 34.5 ± 11.3 years). Majority of the participants (60.4%) work predominantly outdoor. All but one (97.9%) of the participants had at least one photo-dermatosis, while 12.7% had additional non-photo-induced dermatoses. Dermatoheliosis (77.1%) and solar lentigines (66.7%) were the two most common photo-dermatoses. More than half of the study participants (52.1%) had pre-malignant skin lesion (actinic keratosis), while malignant skin tumours were observed in 18.8% of the subjects.

Conclusion: The study shows there is a high burden of photo-dermatoses as well as pre-malignant and malignant skin tumours, even among younger population of people with oculocutaneous albinism.

Key words: Albinism, photo-dermatosis, dermatoheliosis, pre-malignant, malignant, tumours.