Clinicopathological study of calcifying epithelioma in the head and neck region

Calcifying epithelioma is a benign tumor derived from hair matrix cells. We evaluated the clinicopathological characteristics of 6 calcifying epitheliomas between January 1994 and March 2003.Four patients were male, and 2 were female. They ranged in age from 13 to 29 years (mean, 22.8 years). Symptoms comprised tumor formation in 4 patients, and tumor formation with redness of the overlying skin in 2 patients, including 1 with vesicle formation.Clinically, this tumor was easily diagnosed in typical cases. In cases with inflammation or vesicle formation, fineneedle-aspiration cytological examination was helpful for diagnosis.Histopathologically, the tumor consisted of basophilic cells and shadow cells. In addition, calcification, bone formation, and foreign body giant cells were also observed in the tumor.