Caracterización clínica, epidemiológica e histopatológica de pacientes con diagnóstico de queratosis actínica

introduction: several factors related with the development of actinic keratosis (ak) have been reported in other countries. objective: to describe the clinical, epidemiological and histopathological characteristics of patients with diagnosis of ak in medellín, colombia. methodology: this was a descriptive study of patients with ak. a structured survey including demographic, clinical and epidemiological information was applied. results: 153 patients were included (58 men [37.9%] and 95 women [62.1%]) with an average age of 70 years. sixty four patients (41.8%) were aged 75 years or more. with regard to their personal history, 108 individuals (70.6%) had a high degree of solar exposure during childhood; 76 (49.7%) reported the habit of smoking and 16 out of these (21.1%) still smoked. in 46 (30.1%) there was a family history of skin cancer. regarding individual habits, 73 (47.7%) carried out both indoor and outdoor activities, 80 (52.3%) reported the use of sunscreen and 37 (24.4%) used hat or cap at the time of the study. fitzpatrick's type ii phototype predominated (101 patients; 66%) and 76 (49.7%) had moderate actinic damage. the predominant single histologic subtype corresponded to the atrophic type (12%) and the main mixed subtype was the atrophichyperkeratotic subtype (18.7%). conclusions: clinical, epidemiological and histopathological features found among two institutional populations with ak in medellin (colombia) were similar to those reported in the literature.